Nasi kandar shop operator Nezar Mohamed Shabur Batcha, 57, said this in his defence against a RM1.5 million civil suit filed by businesses in Napoh, Kubang Pasu and the Consumers Association of Kedah (CAKE), who claimed their people lost their wages and that businesses floundered as a result of his failure to quarantine after returning from India.
In his statement of defence sighted by FMT, he said the mere fact that he was convicted for an offence under the disease control laws cannot be used against him, as the conviction was under appeal.
Nezar, an Indian-born Malaysian permanent resident, was earlier ordered by a magistrate to be jailed for five months and fined RM12,000. He has served the jail sentence.
In his defence, he also pleaded to the court to dismiss the case against him with costs, as the businesses in Napoh and CAKE had no locus standi to sue him.
Nezar also claimed that CAKE had no right to be appointed as a representative litigant as there was no such allowance under Rules of Court 2012.
The High Court has set Jan 11 for the plaintiffs to file their response to the defence. FMT has confirmed the filing of Nezar’s defence through his lawyer Burhanudeen Abdul Wahid.
On Aug 19, CAKE launched a suit against Nezar, on behalf of business owners, workers and wage earners from the mukims (subdistricts) of Napoh and Megat Dewa in the Kubang Pasu district.
The claimants say there were affected by a targeted enhanced movement control order (TEMCO) imposed in the two mukims due to Nezar’s violation of a 14-day quarantine after his return from India.
Other claimants include Jawatankuasa Peniaga RTC Pekan Napoh, Kelab Usahawan Belia Napoh, Persatuan Peniaga Kecil dan Penjaja Napoh and two residents’ associations in Napoh.
According to the health ministry, the Sivagangga cluster originated in Napoh, Kubang Pasu, after the Indian man with permanent resident status flouted a quarantine order imposed on him after his visit to Sivagangga, a town in Tamil Nadu.
As a result, four mukims in Kubang Pasu were placed under TEMCO with the restaurant closed and sealed from Aug 3 to Aug 30.
It was first reported that a man was seen at his nasi kandar shop in Kubang Pasu in August on Hari Raya Haji, with a pink wristband. A netizen shared a picture of the man at his shop and later tracked a major rise in Covid-19 cases and the birth of the Sivagangga cluster.
The man had returned to Malaysia from Sivagangga on July 13.
A total of 45 people from the Sivagangga cluster were reported to be infected, according to a report in late August.
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