JUDGMENTBY: JAMES FOONG J

The plaintiff was a lieutenant attached to the 16th battalion of the Royal Malay Regiment (the said regiment) based in Kem Lok Kawi (the camp), Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. He first reported for duty on 2 September 1991, fresh after graduating from the Royal Military College (the RMC). Before he was fully commissioned into the said regiment, he had to undergo an orientation programme. The officer-in-charge of this programme, which was to be for a period of two weeks, was the first defendant, then holding the rank of captain in the said regiment. The second defendant was also a captain, and at all material time was attached to the said regiment as an intelligence officer.

The plaintiff alleged that while he was undergoing the orientation programme, he was ragged and assaulted by the first and second defendants. The first of the alleged incidents occurred on 8 September 1991 at the officers mess in the camp. The plaintiff accused the first defendant of ordering him to hold a used cylinder shell weighing one to two kilograms with a circumferenceof five inches by one foot in height with his hands full stretch. When he was unable to continue, the first defendant b