The court held that the Special Task Force report is relevant and should be disclosed, emphasizing broad relevance in discovery and rejecting confidentiality claims under the Official Secrets Act.

Su Tiang Joo J::

Introduction

[1] In the course of trial, the Plaintiffs applied (Encl 93) pursuant to O 24 rr 7, 8, 8A, 11(2) and (3), 12 and or 13 of the Rules of 2012 ("ROC"), and or arts 5 and 8 of the Federal Constitution and or the inherent jurisdiction of this Court (the "Discovery Application") for the following orders:

i) That the Defendants who have in their possession, custody, power and/or control the Special Task Force report entitled "Laporan Pasukan Khas bagi Kehilangan Amri Che Mat dan Pastor Raymond Koh" (STF Report) shall forthwith and in any event no later than three (3) days from the date of this Order produce for inspection and make copies to the 2nd Plaintiff and the Plaintiffs' solicitors the STF Report;

ii) That consequent upon prayer (1) above, the 2nd Plaintiff and/ or the Plaintiffs' solicitors shall be at liberty to peruse and make copies of the STF Report to be used as evidence at the trial of this suit;

iii) Cost in the cause; and

iv) Such further or other relief as this Honourable Court deems fit and just.

[2] The Defendants opposed the application.

Materials Laid Before The Court

[3] The Discovery Application is supported by two affidavits affirmed by the 2nd plaintiff (Encls 94 and 111) whereas three affidavits were filed in opposition to the application by the defendants (Encls 107, 108 and 121).

[4] Written submissions were presented by learned counsel for the plaintiffs (Encl 117 - primary submissions and Encl 126 - submissions in reply) and by learned Senior Federal Counsel ("SFC") (Encl 115 - primary submissions and Encl 123 - submissions in reply). These were supplemented with the presentation of oral submissions on 29 July 2024.

Salient Background

[5] The 1st plaintiff is also known as Pastor Raymond Koh and his wife is the 2nd plaintiff. The 1st plaintiff has gone missing as of 13 February 2017. His disappearance is the reason for this suit. The plaintiffs claim he is a victim of enforced disappearance perpetrated by the defendants comprising the1st to the 9th defendants being police officers, the 10th defendant who is associated with the police, the 11th defendant being the Chief Police Officer, the 12th defendant being the Royal Malaysian Police force and the 13th defendant being the Government of Malaysia.

[6] When the trial opened on 6 June 2023, I had, acting pursuant to O 15 r 17(1) and (2) of the Rules of 2012 ("ROC"), and the inherent powers of the Court under O 92 r 4 ROC ordered that the 2nd plaintiff, who is the wife of Pastor Raymond Koh be made his Litigation Representative with the right to conduct this action not only for herself but also for and on his behalf with retrospective effect equivalent to nunc pro tunc from a date just prior to the filing of this suit. This I made on the premise that the words "Where a party to an action dies" in O 15 r 17(1) ROC is wide enough to include a party who has gone missing.

[7] The causes of action pleaded in the Amended Statement of Claim (Encl 18 p 32) are as follows:

i) Unlawful abduction of Pastor Raymond Koh;

ii) Failure to account or disclose his whereabouts;

iii) Misfeasance in public office;

iv) Conspiracy to injure;

v) Negligence;

vi) Breach of Constitutional and statutory rights.

[8] The reliefs sought by the plaintiffs are:

i) An order that the defendants ascertain and disclose the whereabouts of Pastor Raymond Koh;

ii) An order that the police arrest the 10th defendant (Saiful Bahari Bin Abdul Aziz) and bring him to Court to give evidence on oath on his involvement and or his vehicle's involvement in the abduction of Pastor Raymond Koh;

iii) A declaration that the Constitutional rights of the plaintiffs have been violated;

iv) Damages - general and exemplary;

v) Interest on the damages;

vi) Costs; and

vii) Such further or other relief as this Court deems just.

[9] The plaintiffs pleaded inter alia that the abduction of Pastor Raymond Koh was the subject of a public inquiry by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia("SUHAKAM") whic