High Court allows government to suspend RM37m compensation to pastor Raymond Koh’s family pending appeal
KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court today allowed the government’s application to suspend the execution of a compensation payment exceeding RM37 million to the family of pastor Raymond Koh.
Judge Mahazan Mat Taib, in delivering the decision, said the government successfully proved special circumstances to warrant a stay of execution pending an appeal at the Court of Appeal.
“Based on a balance of justice, I am satisfied that no material loss has been proven by the plaintiff if the stay of execution is granted,” he said.
The judge said the disbursement of the funds, even if approved, would not align with the rules and financial procedures governing public funds.
He stated that government allocations involve multiple levels of accounting and audit oversight, which cannot be processed in the same manner as private transactions.
Therefore, the court acknowledged that from a practical standpoint, the payment in question is extraordinary and administratively complex.
The judge said after considering all circumstances, he was satisfied that the balance of justice favoured maintaining the status quo temporarily pending the appeal.
On 5 November last year, High Court Judge Datuk Su Tiang Joo ordered the government to pay over RM37 million in compensation to Koh’s wife, Susanna Liew Sow Yoke, after allowing a lawsuit she filed concerning Koh’s disappearance.
The Attorney General’s Chambers filed an appeal against that decision the following day.
Liew had filed the suit against the police and the government concerning her husband’s disappearance and the manner in which the authorities investigated the case.
Koh was reportedly abducted by a group of masked men while driving in Kelana Jaya near here on 13 February 2017.
