Rumah Bonda chairman Siti Bainun Ahd Razali filed the application on Aug 13, 2021, naming the director of the department, and the women, family and community development minister as the first and second respondents.

Lawyer Asiah Abd Jalil, representing Rumah Bonda, said Justice Ahmad Kamal Shahid set the date and time after hearing submissions from both parties today.

On Nov 15, 2021, the High Court, in allowing an objection by the Attorney-General’s Chambers, dismissed Rumah Bonda’s filing for a judicial review of the social welfare department sealing its premises in Taman Setapak. This followed the alleged abuse of a Down Syndrome teenager known as Bella.

On July 25, 2023, the Court of Appeal overturned this decision, ordering the High Court to hear the application.

In the application, Siti Bainun said the social welfare department was hasty in sealing the premises and it was influenced by public pressure.

On May 3, 2023, the sessions court ordered Siti Bainun to serve a 12-year prison sentence after finding her guilty of two charges of neglecting and abusing Bella at a condominium unit in Wangsa Maju here between February and June 2021.