THE Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman temple task force’s bid to obtain an interim stay in the inquest into fireman Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim’s death was today denied by the Court of Appeal.

A three-man bench led by justice Umi Kalthum Abdul Majid rejected the stay request, on the grounds that the inquest is of public interest.

“The inquest is of great public interest. It is inflammatory in nature. In public interest, the matter should not be stayed. We will hear you, but you have to let the interim stay go,” she told counsel M. Visvanathan, representing the task force.

“There are contentious issues to be determined, therefore, the inquest should not be stayed.”

The task force filed the stay application on February 13, pending the disposal of an appeal against a high court ruling that the task force is not an interested party in the inquest.

The task force is seeking to be an interested party by allowing its lawyer to hold a watching brief.

During today’s proceedings, the court asked Visvanathan to clarify the task force’s legal standing.

“We need to know the legal standing of the task force. Are they a registered society?”

Visvanathan told the bench that the task force comprised devotees and some temple committee members.

“The temple committee is divided into two factions. One faction wants to relocate (the temple), and the other does not want to. The latter faction, together with some devotees, started the task force.

“We tried to stay the proceedings at the sessions court. The application was not replied to by the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC). They didn’t file an affidavit-in-reply. The court has granted them time to reply to our affidavit.”

He said despite not being granted an interim stay, the task force is mindful of the fact that it is allowed to clarify its position next month.

The matter will be heard on March 4 before the same bench, which also includes judges Harmindar Singh Dahliwal and Stephen Chung Hian Guan. This is to allow the AGC to file an affidavit-in-reply to the task force’s application to stay the inquest pending its appeal at the Court of Appeal.

The high court, on January 31, rejected the application filed by Visvanathan on the grounds that the task force has no clear, substantive and reasonable interests in the ongoing inquest, which continues on Monday.

Adib, who sustained serious injuries in riots at the temple last November, died the following month at the National Heart Institute. – February 22, 2019.