Suit over termination of HSR project: Two former prime ministers, three others ordered to file defence

• Published date: 02 February 2023
• Publication title: Malay Mail Online

The High Court today ordered former prime ministers Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, as well as three others, to file their defence over a suit filed against them for alleged abuse of public office and negligence in connection with the termination of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) project.

They are ordered to file in their defence statements on February 28 at the latest.

Apart from the two former prime ministers, the other three defendants named in the suit filed by Mohd Hatta Sanuri, 47, are former Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, former Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong and the government.

Lawyer Mohaji Selamat, representing Mohd Hatta, said the court also ordered his client to file the reply to the statements of defence by March 28.

The court set March 30 for further case management, he said when contacted after the case management, conducted online, before Senior Assistant Registrar Nur Shasha Hidayah Nor Azahar today.

Mohd Hatta filed the suit on December 30 last year, on behalf of himself and more than 32 million Malaysians who were affected and disappointed by the waste committed by all defendants for allegedly terminating the HSR project.

In the statement of claim, Mohd Hatta said Dr Mahathir, who was then the seventh prime minister, had committed tort misfeasance in public office when he decided to postpone the HSR project, causing the government and the Malaysian people to...