The High Court has scheduled April 4th as the decisive date for the verdict regarding Pertubuhan Kebajikan Rumah Bonda Kuala Lumpur's (Rumah Bonda) plea for a judicial review to contest the sealing of its premises by the Federal Territory Social Welfare Department (JKM).
Initiated by Rumah Bonda's chairperson, Siti Bainun Ahd Razali, the judicial review application was filed on August 13, 2021, listing the director of Federal Territory JKM and the Minister of Women, Family, and Community Development as the primary and secondary respondents, respectively.
Representing Rumah Bonda, lawyer Asiah Abd Jalil disclosed that Judge Datuk Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid appointed the aforementioned date subsequent to reviewing arguments from both sides via the Zoom platform today. The verdict will be disseminated via Zoom at 10 am, informed the lawyer to the press.
Previously, on November 15, 2021, the High Court dismissed Rumah Bonda's application for leave to instigate a judicial review concerning JKM's action of sealing its premises at Taman Setapak, following an objection by the Attorney General's Chambers.
JKM's decision to seal the premises stemmed from the reported abuse of a Down Syndrome teenager named Bella. The Court of Appeal, on July 25, 2023, directed the judicial review application by Rumah Bonda to be reconsidered for hearing at the High Court after a unanimous ruling by a panel of three judges, acknowledging the merit in Rumah Bonda's appeal.
In the application, Siti Bainun contended that the seal order issued by JKM on July 9, 2021, and the subsequent sealing of the premises on July 12 were prompted by public pressure following widespread media coverage of alleged child abuse at the facility on July 5.
Siti Bainun alleged that the respondents' actions were hastily taken in response to public demands for JKM and the government to address the alleged abuse case at the premises.
Furthermore, on May 3, 2023, the Sessions Court sentenced Siti Bainun to 12 years' imprisonment after finding her guilty of two charges related to neglecting and abusing Bella in a condominium unit in Wangsa Maju between February and June 2021.
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