Altantuya’s parents, Shaariibuu Setev and Altantsetseg Sanjaa, together with her son Mungunshagai, had sued the government, Razak and former policemen Sirul Azhar Umar and Azilah Hadri, alleging a conspiracy surrounding her murder.

A three-member panel, led by Chief Judge of Malaya Hashim Hamzah and also comprising Justices Azman Abdullah and K Muniandy, ruled that the High Court had erred in law in awarding the original RM5 million damages.

Muniandy, who read the decision, said the court found that the government was not vicariously liable for the actions of Sirul and Azilah, on the grounds that they were not performing their official duties at the time of the murder.

He described the arrangement involving Razak, Sirul and Azilah as a “private arrangement” to deal with Altantuya, who was said to be “disturbing” the analyst.

The court was told that Razak, Altantuya’s former lover, had been visited by her in October 2006. She reportedly demanded to see him and sought payment for translation work she had done for him.

Muniandy said the use of government-owned explosives for the “unauthorised acts” was independent of Sirul and Azilah’s duties as UTK or special actions unit officers.

“The government cannot be liable (for Sirul and Azilah’s wrongdoing),” he added.

However, the court held that Razak “took part” in Altantuya’s abduction by instructing Sirul and Azilah to “deal with her”.

Muniandy noted that Sirul and Azilah had never met or known Altantuya before Oct 18, 2006.

“They were strangers to her. Their presence at her hotel and their eventual interception of her outside Razak’s house were entirely facilitated by the information provided by Razak.

“This sequence of events demonstrates a common design to deprive her of her liberty,” he said, adding that Razak and Sirul were in “constant communication” when Altantuya was taken away.

“Such conduct is inconsistent with that of an innocent party and points towards a shared intent to ensure that she disappeared,” Muniandy said.

The court awarded Altantuya’s family RM1 million in aggravated damages for the “high-handed, outrageous and barbaric nature” of her murder.

“Where a wrongful act is committed with exceptional malice and results in profound pre-death suffering, aggravated damages may be awarded to reflect the intangible injury to the deceased person’s personality and dignity,” Muniandy said.

A sum of RM384,000 was awarded for a loss of dependency, and another RM10,000 for bereavement or funeral costs.

Lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo appeared for Altantuya’s family while senior federal counsel Nik Mohd Noor Nik Kar appeared for the government.

Lawyers Gurdial Singh Nijar and Abraham Au appeared for Razak.