Malaysian Bar president AG Kalidas says the independent committee’s report on the 2016 fire at Sultanah Aminah Hospital is of public interest and that fair comment does not prejudice a fair trial.
The government says the Sept 2020 lawsuits by the parents of three patients killed in the Oct 2016 fire at Sultanah Aminah Hospital were filed beyond the three-year time limit, but the plaintiffs argue they were denied all information about the incident within that period.
The government also tells three lawsuits filed over the deadly 2016 fire at Sultanah Aminah Hospital that the independent inquiry’s report on the disaster is an official secret of the highest-level classification.
Parents of Neeramaladevi Chandran, who was killed in the 2016 fire at Sultanah Aminah Hospital along with five patients, reached a court settlement in August 2020 with the government that agreed to pay them RM136,000 in damages without admission of liability.
The Ministry of Health says it withheld publishing the report into the deadliest hospital fire in history to avoid possible sub judice and contempt of court, after a victim’s family sued the government for negligence of patient safety.
Johor Baru MP Akmal Nasir urges the Public Works Department and the Ministry of Housing and Local Government to reveal public buildings' fire certification status.