Court strikes out Deepak's suit against Najib, Rosmah, two others

The High Court here today allowed an application by former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor and two others to strike out a civil suit filed by carpet businessman J.R. Deepak Jaikishan over a land deal that allegedly caused his company to suffer huge losses.

Lawyer Datuk David Mathews, representing Najib and Rosmah, told reporters that Judicial Commissioner Quay Chew Soon made the decision after hearing the striking-out application in his chambers.

Mathews said the court allowed the defendants’ application on grounds that Deepak had no locus standi to claim for the losses mentioned in his suit and that the statement of claim did not disclose a reasonable cause of action.

"The court awarded RM15,000 total costs to the couple, and another RM15,000 for Boustead Holdings Berhad and its subsidiary Bakti Wira Development Sdn Bhd as defendants," he said.

Deepak's lawyers Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla and Irzan Iswat Mohd Noor confirmed the outcome of today's proceedings.

Najib and Rosmah filed the application to strike out the suit on Jan 7, 2019 while the other two defendants – Boustead Holdings and Bakti Wira – filed their application on Dec 17, 2018 on the grounds that they were not involved in the alleged conspiracy.

Deepak filed the suit on Oct 12, 2018, claiming that he had suffered losses due to the conspiracy, fraud and undue influence by the defendants in a property deal that allegedly caused his company to suffer huge losses.

He claimed that as a director and majority shareholder of Astacanggih Sdn Bhd, he had signed a land deal with the director and majority shareholder of Awan Megah (M) Sdn Bhd, Raja Ropiaah Raja Abdullah, over three pieces of land, involving 181.9 hectares in Mukim Kapar, Klang and Mukim Bukit Raja, in the Petaling district.

He claimed that a deposit of RM13 million had been made by Astacanggih to Awan Megah and a land bond for RM72.5 million from Kuwait Finance House (M) Bhd was submitted to the Malaysian government.

However, he claimed Awan Megah refused to produce the original land titles for transfer to Astacanggih.

Deepak contended that as a result of the conspiracy and interference from Najib and Rosmah, who were named the first and second defendants respectively, he was forced to sell 80 per cent (16 million units) of his shares in Astacanggih to Boustead Holdings through Wira development.

He sought RM600 million in general damages, RM50 million in exemplary damages and RM26 million in aggravated damages.

Meanwhile, when met after the proceedings, Deepak told the media that he would file an appeal against the decision.

-- BERNAMA