Inquest postponed to March 19

SHAH ALAM: The inquest into the death of firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim has been postponed to March 19 to allow an affidavit-in-reply to be filed against a request made by a temple task force seeking to halt the inquest proceedings.

Coroner Rofiah Mohamad said this followed a request by deputy public prosecutor Hamdan Hamzah, who would reply to an affidavit initiated by the Save Seafield Mariamman Temple task force.

Hamzah said the lawyers for Adib’s family, as well as lawyers of the Housing and Local Government Ministry and Fire and Rescue Department, agreed to oppose a stay application from the temple task force.

He will proceed with filing for the case in the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya on Monday.

The Coroner’s Court agreed to a request by Hamzah for the 20th witness of the inquest to be allocated a suitable time slot to give his statement when the inquest resumes on March 19.

The witness, who is a member of the Federal Reserve Unit, was supposed to testify yesterday.

The inquest was scheduled to run from Feb 11 to 28; March 1, 4 and 5; and resume on March 19 to 29 and April 1 to 12.

Nineteen witnesses have given their statements.

The Court of Appeal had denied an application by the temple task force on Feb 22 to temporarily stay the inquest proceedings.

At that time, a three-man panel chaired by Court of Appeal judge Datuk Umi Kalthum Abdul Majid adjourned the hearing of the stay application to Monday to enable the temple task force to file an affidavit of its legal position in the application and for the Attorney-General’s Chambers to file an affidavit-in-reply to the stay application.

The temple task force also filed a separate appeal to be an interested party in the inquest.

It was rejected by Rofiah on Jan 31.