KUALA LUMPUR: The police should not have faced any significant challenge to execute a court order to locate the children of M. Indira Gandhi, says Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat.
The former chief justice said she was unsure why police had yet to recover Indira’s daughter Prasana Diksa, despite the case ongoing for years.
“I personally think that there would be no obstacle for the police (stopping them from recovering the children).
“Yet, more than 10 years down the line, they have not been located and returned to their mother,” she said during a dialogue session here on Tuesday (Aug 19) titled “The Sanctity of Malaysia’s Federal Constitution: Threats, Solutions and Impact on National Governance.”
Citing other high-profile cases, Tengku Maimun noted the police had successfully solved complex crimes, such as the murders of Sosilawati Lawiya and Altantuya Shaariibuu.
“In both instances, despite significant logistical challenges, the perpetrators were apprehended and convicted,” she said.
She added that the judiciary’s limitations in enforcing orders illustrate the separation of judicial and police responsibilities.
Tengku Maimun also brought up her dissenting opinion in the Court of Appeal, which supported the Ipoh High Court’s decision to issue a mandamus order against the police. This order demands police action to recover the children, a decision later upheld by the Federal Court.
On Aug 11, the Court of Appeal postponed its decision in a RM100mil lawsuit filed by Indira against the Inspector-General of Police and three others concerning the alleged inaction against her ex-husband, Pathmanathan, over the abduction of her daughter, Prasana.
The court has scheduled Aug 25 for case management to set a date to deliver the decision.
Indira is appealing a High Court decision from June 28, 2024, which dismissed her lawsuit against the IGP, the police, the Home Ministry and the government, ruling that police used all available resources to locate Pathmanathan, also known as Muhammad Riduan.
Indira’s lawsuit, filed on Oct 28, 2020, claimed the IGP deliberately disregarded the Federal Court’s mandamus order, failing to take appropriate action to return Prasana. She asserted that the defendants’ actions caused her prolonged separation from her daughter.
In 2009, Pathmanathan unilaterally converted his three children to Islam and obtained custody from the Syariah Court.
In 2016, the Federal Court affirmed a High Court mandamus order to apprehend Pathmanathan and return Prasana to her mother.
The apex court ruled in 2018 that the unilateral conversion was null and void, and the Ipoh High Court granted full custody to Indira in 2010.
Prasana was 11 months old when taken and turned 17 this year. Indira’s two other children were returned to her in 2010.
