The family of the late Teoh Beng Hock files a new legal action to compel the police to investigate his death as homicide.
KUALA LUMPUR: The family of the late Teoh Beng Hock has filed a new legal action in the High Court here to seek an order compelling the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) to investigate his death, 17 years ago, as homicide.
The deceased’s brother, Teoh Meng Kee, and their parents, Teoh Leong Hwee and Teng Shuw Hoi, filed an application for leave to apply for judicial review through Messrs Lim Wei Jiet on April 17.
They named the Inspector-General of Police, PDRM Criminal Investigation Department director, PDRM, Attorney General and the Government of Malaysia as the first to fifth respondents. The application is scheduled to be heard on May 18.
The applicants are seeking a declaration that the respondents have a legal duty to initiate an investigation into Beng Hock’s death on July 16, 2009, under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder, or culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 of the Penal Code.
They also seek a mandamus order to compel the respondents to complete the investigation within 120 days from the date of the court order.
In his supporting affidavit, Meng Kee alleges that the respondents have failed to provide reasons or explanations as to why no investigation has been conducted into Beng Hock’s death under Sections 302 and 304 of the Penal Code.
He states that the deceased’s death is a long-standing issue involving public interest, yet to this day, no individual or officer of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has been charged in connection with the death, despite a Court of Appeal decision on the matter.
“If this judicial review application is not heard, it will result in the family being unable to pursue justice for his death,” he said in the affidavit.
On Nov 21, 2024, the High Court here ordered PDRM to complete the investigation into Beng Hock’s death within six months after allowing a judicial review application by the deceased’s parents.
However, on May 20, 2025, the Criminal Investigation Department of the Selangor Police Contingent Headquarters wrote a letter to the family’s former lawyer.
They informed that the investigation had been conducted under the offence of wrongful confinement pursuant to Section 342 of the Penal Code, and that the Attorney General’s Chambers had decided to take No Further Action (NFA) on the matter.
Beng Hock, who was then political secretary to Seri Kembangan assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead on July 16, 2009, at the Plaza Masalam building in Shah Alam after having given a statement at the MACC office on the 14th floor.
On Jan 5, 2011, the Shah Alam Coroner’s Court returned an open verdict, ruling that Beng Hock’s death in 2009 was neither a suicide nor a homicide, and finding that no third party was involved in his death.
Subsequently, on July 21, 2011, the Royal Commission of Inquiry established to investigate Beng Hock’s death ruled that his death was by suicide.
Then, on Sept 5, 2014, the Court of Appeal reversed the open verdict in Beng Hock’s death case and ruled that his death resulted from an unlawful act committed by one or more unidentified persons.
