IN THE HIGH COURT:

Eusoff Chin J

The first plaintiff was a government school teacher. The second and third plaintiffs are the Committee members acting for, and managing the affairs and well being of the first plaintiff vide Order of the Muar High COURT in Originating Summons No. 69 of 1982, because the first plaintiff is a mental patient.

According to the Statement of Claim of the plaintiffs and the affidavit filed by their solicitor to oppose the application to strike out the suit, the 1st. plaintiff started work as a teacher on January 2, 1971. He was given medical leave from September 5, 1976, to November 11, 1976. On November 15, 1976, his illness was traced to psychiatric causes and he was admitted to the Psychiatric Ward of the University Hospital Kuala Lumpur till December 9, 1976. He was again admitted to the Psychiatric Ward of the same hospital from April 15, 1977, to May 12, 1977.

On February 1, 1977, on the recommendation of Professor Teoh Jin Yin of the Department of Psychological Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya, that the first plaintiff was suffering from mental disorder, the first plaintiff was transferred from Sekolah Tinggi, Muar, to Sekolah Menengah Jenis Kebangsaan, Melaka.

The first plaintiff while labouring under and suffering from mental illness called schizophrenia, on June 29, 1977, wrote to one of the defendants to say he was resigning from the government service, and the defendants or one of them terminated the first plaintiff's service. It is alleged that the defendants knew that the first plaintiff was suffering from mental illness, and ought not to have accepted the letter of resignation of the first plaintiff.

On September 12, 1977, Dr. Chan Fook Cheong, Consultant Physician of Hospital Besar, Johor Bahru, wrote a letter to the first defendant notifying the first defendant of the first plaintiff's mental and physical condition. The brothers of the first plaintiff made personal approaches to the defendants not to accept the letter of resignation but to convene a medical board for the first plaintiff, but without response.

Since the first plaintiff was suffering from mental illness, and was unlikely to recover from his illness the second and the third plaintiffs (brothers of the first plaintiff) applied to the COURT vide Originating Summons No. 69 of 1982 to appoint them as committee to manage the affairs of the first plaintiff. The High COURT made the order on June 13, 1982. On June 2, 1983, the committee filed this action against the defendants.

On June 10, 1985, the learned Federal Counsel acting for the four defendants filed an application to strike out the suit since the plaintiffs had not filed their action within three years of the date of termination of the first plaintiff's services as required by section 2(a) of the Public Authorities Protection Act, 1948 (Act 198).

The Statement of Claim had alleged, at paragraphs 9 to 13, that the first plaintiff had been suffering from a mental disorder as from September 5, 1976, and had been in and out of the psychiatric ward of the University Hospital, Kuala Lumpur. The defendants had not denied that this was so. (See paragraph 3 of the Statement of Defence where the defendants had admitted paragraphs 9 to 12 of the Statement of Claim.)

I had from the outset indicated to both the counsel for the plaintiffs and for the defendants that, in view of the mental condition of the first plaintiff, they should argue before me on the question whether for the purposes of section 2(a) Public Authorities Protection Act, time had begun to run one month after the date of the submission of the resignation letter submitted by the plaintiff, which was July 29, 1977.

Exhibited to the affidavit of the plaintiff's counsel filed to oppose the application to strike out this Action is a medical report on the first plaintiff issued by the Pakar Perubatan Jiwa, Hospital Permai, Johor Bahru. It states:

"E. Ramasamy & Co.,

K B. (P.O. Box) No. 509,

No. 12, Jalan Petrie