Cop wins damages over unlawful detention

The Star
By QISHIN TARIQ

KUALA LUMPUR: For nearly 10 years, Kpl S. Selvakumar had been in and out of court – and even moved from cell to cell ­– to fight against his detention over a robbery charge.

Yesterday, it all came to a happy ending with the High Court awarding him damages of nearly RM1mil for over 800 days of unlawful detention.

“I am overjoyed with this decision after more than nine years of going to court,” the jubilant policeman told reporters after senior assistant registrar Catherin Nicholas handed the ruling.

Nicholas awarded him RM779,000 in damages and an additional RM200,000 for aggravated and exemplary damages.

The ordeal for Kpl Selvakumar, now 33, started on Feb 16, 2003 after he was detained by the Ipoh police for allegedly being involved in a robbery at an electronics factory in Seremban.

Between July 24 and Sept 8, 2004, he was moved from various police stations – including in Shah Alam, Malacca and Johor – in what seemed to be a police “road show” for the purpose of detaining him.

On Nov 5, 2004, he was served a detention order and sent to the Simpang Renggam detention centre in Johor for two years.

However, Kpl Selvakumar filed a habeas corpus application at the Johor Baru High Court which, on Oct 24, 2005, declared his detention was not valid and ordered his immediate release.

He was, instead, re-arrested by the Kluang police and, on March 29, 2006, served a second detention order on the same charge as the first time he was detained, then taken again to Simpang Renggam for a seven-month detention.

On Oct 28, 2006, he was released after he succeeded in an originating summons to challenge a restriction order.

On Nov 11 of that year, he was taken back into employment with the police force.

Nicholas held that Kpl Selvakumar had proven his claim that he had been detained in mala fide (bad faith) without any basis.

She found his re-arrest and detention in March 2006, which was based on the same facts as his previous detention order, was not proper, baseless and an abuse of power.