According to his lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, Deepak was admitted to a private hospital here yesterday.
“I went to the hospital yesterday night and saw him in the ward with his family members,” Shafee told High Court judge Hue Siew Kheng on Deepak’s absence.
He also submitted a letter from the hospital which stated that Deepak had been admitted for “abdominal pain, nausea and severe anal pain”.
This is the second week in a row that Deepak had been unable to provide his testimony.
On March 19, Deepak obtained a medical certificate (MC) from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre for three days. Shafee told the court then that Deepak came to his office the day before and “vomited in the conference room”.
Hue then fixed the cross-examination to be conducted today and also ordered Deepak to produce a medical report on his condition.
However, following Deepak’s absence today, lawyers for Balasubramaniam’s widow A Santamil Selvi questioned the validity of the medical letter.
Gopal Sri Ram pointed out that the date on the hospital’s letter was different from that which Shafee had informed the court.
“He (Shafee) said that Deepak was admitted yesterday but the letter is dated today. I have no way of verifying if this letter was meant for March 26,” he said.
Sri Ram added it would be better if the doctor who is treating Deepak comes to give evidence under oath on the condition of his health.
Meanwhile, Santamil’s other lawyer Manjeet Singh questioned why “everything seems to happen a day before”.
“I would like to know how long this will continue. Are we going to see more medical reports in upcoming court dates?” he asked.
The court then allowed the postponement for the last time, after confirming with the hospital that Deepak was indeed admitted.
“If he is ill again, then I want the doctor to turn up in court,” Hue said.
The court then fixed April 13 for Santamil’s lawyers to cross-examine the businessman.
Forced to leave Malaysia
On Feb 6, Hue allowed Santamil Selvi to question Deepak on the conflicting defences and whether Shafee & Co had the authority to represent him.
Santamil Selvi and her children filed the action for causing intentional harm last August as a result of the family being allegedly forced to leave Malaysia in 2008.
She had filed a suit for conspiracy in June 2014 which was struck out in December that year on the grounds that she had not obtained a letter of administration to represent the estate of Balasubramaniam, who was better known as PI Bala.
Deepak filed his first defence on Oct 25 and it was served on lawyer Americk Sidhu, who first represented the widow and the children.
Subsequently, Shafee, who was listed to appear for Deepak, filed the second defence.
Deepak’s first defence stated that Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, had orchestrated the plaintiff’s exile to India in 2008.
However, the latest defence absolved the couple of any wrongdoing.
Americk had said the defence’s two statements were “diametrically opposed” in material particulars.
Santamil Selvi had also filed an application to disqualify Shafee from representing Deepak.
Santamil Selvi and her children have named Najib, Rosmah, Najib’s brothers Mohd Nazim and Johari, lawyers Sunil Abraham, Cecil Abraham and Arulampalam Mariampillai, commissioner for oaths Zainal Abidin Muhayat and Deepak as parties to her action.
Santamil Selvi filed the action contending the defendants had deprived her family of a normal life and caused them to suffer financial and non-financial losses.
Santamil Selvi, together with her two children, Kishen and Menaga, are seeking damages, with interest, for losses suffered from July 2008 as a result of their five-year displacement.
Conflicting statutory declarations
PI Bala was previously embroiled in a controversy over his two conflicting statutory declarations (SD) in the high-profile 2006 murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu.
In the present suit, the family said the defendants had caused PI Bala’s second SD to be drafted without his instruction and further caused him to sign it under threat and inducement.
He was forced to leave Malaysia for India in a hurry after signing the second SD on July 4, 2008, a day after the first was released, it claimed.
The second SD is supposed to have cleared Najib of any involvement in the case.
Balasubramaniam, in the second SD, said he wished to retract the entire contents of his first SD dated July 1, as it had been made under duress.
Balasubramaniam, a key witness in the Altantuya trial, died of a heart attack on March 15, 2013, weeks after returning from India.
He was hired by political analyst and Najib associate Abdul Razak Baginda, to monitor Altantuya before her disappearance.