PUTRAJAYA — The Court of Appeal today dismissed Hindu mother M. Indira Gandhi’s appeal to reinstate her RM100 million lawsuit against the police and the Malaysian government over their failure to track down her youngest daughter, Prasana Diksa.

While dismissing the appeal, a three-member bench chaired by Datuk Mohamed Zaini Mazlan highlighted material deficiencies in police records concerning efforts to execute an arrest warrant against her fugitive former husband, K. Pathmanathan, also known as Muhammad Riduan Abdullah, NST reported.

Datuk Faizah Jamaludin and Datuk Mohd Radzi Abdul Hamid also sat on the bench.

Delivering the unanimous decision, Faizah ruled that the available evidence failed to establish that any specific police omission directly prevented Pathmanathan’s arrest or the recovery of Prasana.

The appellate court held that the appellant was required to prove that the respondents’ inaction directly caused her loss, and that such loss would have likely been averted had proper measures been carried out.

The court maintained that private law damages cannot be granted simply to penalise administrative inadequacies.

“Private law damages compensate for loss caused by an actionable wrong. They are not a freestanding response to unsatisfactory administrative performance.

“The respondents did not cause the original taking or the initial separation,” Faizah said.

Turning to immigration records, Faizah pointed out that Pathmanathan’s last documented departure from Malaysia occurred on March 19, 2014, with no admissible records indicating if or when he re-entered the country.