Hindraf lawyer wants full hearing for London suit

Lawyer Stuart Stevens has formulated his legal arguments for the class action suit in London on Thursday alleging that the then British government had neglected Indians in Malaya.

KUALA LUMPUR: British lawyer Stuart Stevens believes that a class action suit initiated by Hindraf Makkal Sakthi chairman P Waythamoorthy in London should be tried at a full hearing.

Saying it was a case that demanded justice, Stevens added that this would allow Waytha to provide evidence, including documents in his possession.

Stevens was quoted as saying this in a telephone conversation between him and the Hindraf leadership. The gist of the telephone conversation has been uploaded by Hindraf in a statement on Facebook.

Stevens, the head of Holborn Chambers, and lawyer Saravanak Kumar, a London-based barrister from Malaysia, will represent Hindraf and Waytha.

The claim is that there was an act of negligence on the part of the British government when Malaya was under its rule.

Hindraf said a live update on court proceedings would be available for all to follow on its Facebook page on Thursday. It will start at 5pm Malaysian time.

The case, filed on behalf of descendants of indentured labour in Malaya (peninsula), will be heard at the Court of Appeal before Lord Justice Sir Launcelot Henderson at 10am GMT on Thursday.

According to Hindraf, Stevens’ will be arguing that:

• The preliminary point was whether this action could be brought at all, as the respondents argues that the particulars of claim were brought other than in respect of Her Majesty’s Government in the UK (under the Crown Proceedings Act 1947) but by right of Her Majesty as Queen in the former Federation of Malaya. In this case the Queen was never Queen of Malaya and the learned High Court Judge misdirected himself;
• The fact that it is a novel and unprecedented case should not be a bar, particularly in well established cases involving discrimination which goes to the core of the present case;
• Harm was suffered from the moment the Constitution was passed and implemented;
• The majority of the Indian population was immediately disenfranchised and became stateless, lost their right to equal protection and their right to challenge any unconstitutional laws. They also lost their protection as citizens of the UK and Colonies; and
• The duplicity of the British government is clearly illustrated in the confidential letters 12 days after independence between the British High Commissioner and the Malayan prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman which show that the UK government fully understood that the amended Constitution did not comply with the UN and European Convention of human rights legislation. -FMT