THE Kuala Lumpur High Court on Tuesday postponed the hearing of the judicial review application filed by Dr Shaariibuu Setev, the father of slain Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu, to January 12 next year following a request by the respondents to file an affidavit-in-reply.
Counsel Sangeet Kaur Deo, representing Shaariibuu, stated that the adjournment granted by Judge Norliza Othman was necessary after the respondents sought leave to respond to an affidavit filed by the applicant earlier in the morning.
The respondents named in the action are the Inspector-General of Police, the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, the Royal Malaysia Police, the Attorney General, and the Government of Malaysia.
Sangeet explained that in their written submissions, the respondents maintained that the applicant had failed to provide information pursuant to Section 107 of the Criminal Procedure Code, thereby negating any legal obligation to inform the applicant regarding the status of the investigation.
"Following that, we submitted a response to the court containing a police report lodged by the applicant in 2018, which specifically requested that an investigation be conducted into the parties who ordered the murder of the model," Sangeet said.
She noted that the court granted the respondents time to address the contents of the newly submitted affidavit, prompting the postponement to next year.
On October 16, 2025, the High Court granted Shaariibuu leave to initiate judicial review proceedings after the Attorney General raised no objections to the application.
Shaariibuu is seeking a declaration that the respondents' failure to update him on the status of the 2019 Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department probe into the supplementary affidavit and statutory declaration sworn by former Special Actions Unit officer Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri is unlawful.
The supplementary affidavit dated September 24, 2024, and the statutory declaration dated October 17, 2019, were utilised by Azilah in his application to review his death sentence at the Federal Court on October 10, 2024.
Both documents contained assertions by Azilah that he received instructions from higher authorities to carry out a covert operation to eliminate the deceased.
The applicant is seeking a mandamus order compelling the respondents to complete the investigation within one month should it remain ongoing, and to detail the progress of the probe within seven days of the court's decision.
Shaariibuu further requested that should the respondents decide to classify the investigation paper as No Further Action, full reasons for the decision must be formally provided.
On October 10, 2024, the Federal Court commuted Azilah’s death sentence for the murder of Altantuya to 40 years' imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane. - October 6, 2026
