IN a renewed push for accountability, the family of Teoh Beng Hock has initiated fresh legal proceedings to require the police to reclassify and complete investigations into his 2009 death under more serious criminal provisions.
The application was filed on April 17 by his brother, Teoh Meng Kee, together with their parents, Teoh Leong Hwee and Teng Shuw Hoi, through their solicitors.
They named the Inspector-General of Police, the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, the Royal Malaysia Police, the Attorney General and the Government of Malaysia as respondents.
The High Court has fixed May 18 to hear the application for leave to commence judicial review proceedings.
In their filing, the applicants seek a declaration that the respondents are under a legal duty to initiate investigations into Beng Hock’s death on July 16, 2009, under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder, or alternatively under Section 304 for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
They are also seeking an order of mandamus to compel the authorities to complete the investigation within 120 days from the date of the court order.
In a supporting affidavit, Meng Kee contended that the respondents had failed to provide reasons or explanations as to why no investigation had been conducted under Sections 302 or 304 of the Penal Code.
He said the case remained an ongoing matter of public interest, yet no individual or officer from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had been charged in connection with the death, despite findings by the Court of Appeal.
"Should this judicial review application not be heard, it would undermine the family’s efforts to obtain justice in relation to the deceased’s death," he said in the affidavit.
On November 21, 2024, the High Court ordered the police to complete investigations into the case within six months after allowing a previous judicial review application by the family.
However, on May 20, 2025, the Selangor Criminal Investigation Department informed the family’s former solicitors that the case had been investigated under Section 342 of the Penal Code for wrongful confinement.
The letter also stated that the Attorney General’s Chambers had classified the case as No Further Action (NFA).
Beng Hock, who was then political secretary to Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead on July 16, 2009, at Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam after giving a statement at the MACC office on the 14th floor of the building.
On January 5, 2011, the Shah Alam Coroner’s Court ruled that his death was neither suicide nor homicide and found no involvement of a third party.
However, on July 21, 2011, a Royal Commission of Inquiry concluded that the death resulted from suicide.
Subsequently, on September 5, 2014, the Court of Appeal set aside the earlier open verdict and ruled that Beng Hock’s death was caused by unlawful acts of one or more unidentified persons. - May 5, 2026
