Equitable estoppel can bar public officers from relying on statutory limitation periods when their conduct misleads claimants, allowing for the admission of further evidence in appeals.

A. Introduction

[1] The above three appeals (3 Appeals) raise a novel question of whether the Federal Government (4th Defendant) may be estopped by statements made by, among others, Johore State Health Director (2nd Defendant) from relying on the three-year limitation period (Three-Year Limitation Period) provided in s 2(a) of the Public Authorities Protection Act 1948 (PAPA).

B. Background

[2] We shall refer to parties as they were in the High Court (HC).

[3] A fire broke out on 25 October 2016 (Fire) in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Sultanah Aminah Hospital, Johore Bahru (Hospital).

[4] Six patients in the Hospital's ICU perished in the Fire (6 Deceased Persons).

[5] The plaintiffs (Plaintiffs) in the above three suits (3 Suits) are the parents and dependents of three out of the 6 Deceased Persons.

[6] The 1st defendant is the Hospital's Director while the 3rd defendant is the Director-General of the Ministry of Health (MOH). This judgment shall refer to all the defendants collectively in these 3 Appeals as the "Defendants".

[7] After the Fire, MOH formed a seven-member "Independent Inquiry Committee" (IIC) to inquire into the cause of the Fire and to make the necessary recommendations to the 4th Defendant. The IIC was headed by a retired Judge of Court of Appeal (JCA), Dato' Seri Mohd Hishamudin Bin Mohd Yunus.

[8] In June 2018, IIC handed its report (IIC's Report) to MOH. Until the date of this written judgment, IIC's Report has not been released to the public.

C. Legal Proceedings

C(1). 3 Suits

[9] The Plaintiffs filed the 3 Suits in the HC on 2 September 2020.

[10] The Defendants filed three applications to strike out the 3 Suits on the ground that the 3 Suits had been instituted after the expiry of the Three Year Limitation Period on 25 October 2019 (Defendants' 3 Striking Out Applications).

[11] On 15 February 2022, the learned Judicial Commissioner (JC) in the HC allowed the Defendants' 3 Striking Out Applications with costs of RM2,500.00 to the Defendants for each of the 3 Suits (3 HC Decisions). The Plaintiffs have filed the 3 Appeals to the Court of Appeal (CA) against the 3 HC Decisions.

[12] The Plaintiffs have applied to CA and obtained an order for these 3 Appeals to be heard together [Joint Hearing (3 Appeals)].

C(2). Joint Hearing (3 Appeals)

[13] For the purpose of the Joint Hearing (3 Appeals), the Plaintiffs filed three notices of motion for leave of CA to adduce an affidavit affirmed on 5 April 2023 by Dr Selahuddeen Bin Abdul Aziz (Dr Selahuddeen) for the purpose of the hearing of these 3 Appeals [Plaintiffs' 3 Leave Applications (Dr Selahuddeen's affidavit)].

[14] Dr Selahuddeen's affidavit stated as follows, among others:

(1) Dr Selahuddeen was Johore State Health Director from February 2018 until October 2019;

(2) between February 2018 and October 2019, Dr Selahuddeen (as the then Johore State Health Director) met with family members of the 6 Deceased Persons (including the Plaintiffs) [Family Members (6 Deceased Persons)] with Dr Aman Bin Rabu (Dr Aman) (the Hospital's Director at that time) (Meetings). At the Meetings:

(a) Dr Selahuddeen provided updates to the Family Members (6 Deceased Persons) regarding the status of IIC's inquiry;

(b) Dr Selahu