PUTRAJAYA: In a significant legal victory, the Court of Appeal has granted an additional RM300,000 in general damages to former bank officer Lim Hui Jin, acknowledging the tort of misfeasance in public office and breach of statutory duty by a police inspector.
According to an FMT report, in a landmark ruling, the Court of Appeal granted Lim Hui Jin an additional RM300,000 in general damages, following his cross-appeal. Justice Wong Kian Kheong highlighted that Inspector K Sopawan had unlawfully frozen Lim's four bank accounts for an extended period of four years.
Wong said that due to the frozen accounts, Lim had to incur legal expenses and sustain his livelihood by obtaining a loan and selling a jointly held family property.
"We believe that RM500,000 is a fair and sufficient amount of general damages for Lim in this case," Wong said in the broad grounds delivered yesterday.
The bench, chaired by Justice Supang Lian, with Justice Azimah Omar as the other member, underscored that the inspector-general of police and the government bear vicarious liability for Sopawan's actions.
"There is no dispute that Sopawan's actions were 'oppressive, arbitrary, or unconstitutional', warranting exemplary damages," he added.
The High Court had initially awarded Lim RM200,000 in general damages two years ago, but this amount has now been increased to RM500,000. However, the Court of Appeal upheld the RM100,000 award for exemplary damages but reduced the RM75,000 costs awarded to Lim at the High Court to RM50,000.
Additionally, the bench allowed the government's appeal to set aside the High Court's finding of liability against an unnamed deputy public prosecutor and another police inspector, Noorariff Shah Zainuddin. Wong mentioned that the bench was bound by a Federal Court ruling that an unnamed public servant could not be held liable.
Noorariff was also found not liable, as his responsibility was limited to investigating a criminal breach of trust report lodged against Lim's mother, Tan Hoo Eng, a director of an Ipoh-based company.
Tan's business partner had lodged the police report on April 7, 2014, for alleged criminal breach of trust. Although no report was made against Lim, the police froze Tan's bank accounts and seized her money under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act (Amla), and she was subsequently charged with CBT in the Ipoh sessions court.
Earlier this year, the High Court quashed all charges against Tan, citing violations of her constitutional rights to a fair investigation and trial. Despite this, Sopawan issued freezing orders on Lim's four CIMB bank accounts on June 24, 2014.
On Sept 11, 2014, the deputy public prosecutor ordered the seizure of one of Lim's accounts, though Lim was never charged with any offence. Lim stated in his claim that he had repeatedly applied to have the money released from his account, as he was neither prosecuted nor was his money forfeited.
Justice Wong noted that the money in one of Lim's accounts was released to him only on Aug 17, 2018.
Lawyers Gurbachan Singh and Amir Faliq represented Lim, while senior federal counsel Zetty Zurina Kamaruddin acted for the government.