The Kuala Lumpur High Court today pushed back N Tharmendran's habeas corpus hearing to Jan 17, as the respondents have filed a third affidavit.

His lawyer, Amer Hamzah Arshad, said they had to agree to a postponement as they will need time to respond to the affidavit filed last Thursday.

"This is a last-minute affidavit. Initially there were two and we have already replied (to these)...We are ready to proceed," he said outside the Jalan Duta court complex.

The hearing scheduled for this morning was also converted to case management, in line with new court procedures which require all cases to first go for case management before proceeding further.


Tharmendraazlann (left) has claimed that he is no longer employed by the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) as he is not on the payroll, but the air force has dubbed him a deserter and has detained him since Nov 25 last year.

According to a statement by the Defence Ministry's corporate communications unit, Tharmendran had violated the Armed Forces Act 1972 after failing to report for work after posting bail in relation to criminal charges Sept 6.

He is being detained at the Batu Cantonment in Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur.

Tharmendran was charged on Jan 6 last year with stealing two jet engines in December 2007 at the air movement section of the RMAF base in Subang where he was serving as a sergeant.

He was also accused of conspiring in the theft of the two engines with senior serviceman Mohamad Shukri Mohamad Yusop at the material processing shed of the RMAF base in Sungai Besi.

Tharmendran, who complained that he had been tortured during an internal investigation, has applied to strike out the charges.

Authorities ‘heavy-handed’

N Surendran, who is representing Tharmendran in the criminal case at the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court, said he is disappointed that the habeas corpus hearing had been postponed.

"This is an urgent case that needs p balasubramaniam missing pi kumaresan pc 070708 surendranimmediate attention. His father is disappointed because he came all the way here hoping to get some results.

"It seems the new procedures are focusing on efficiency and KPIs and not on the quality (of cases)," said Surendran (left), taking a swipe at Chief Justice Zaki Azmi, who implemented the changes.

Surendran also said the authorities have been heavy-handed in dealing with Tharmendran, having detained him, on top of charging him with the theft of the jet engines and money laundering.

"He is facing a criminal charge, money laundering and possible court martial... It is clear that the authorities are using a hammer to kill a fly."

Surendran added that they are gathering more information that proves the jet engine thefts are only the "tip of the iceberg".

"There are other more serious items missing that the authorities are covering up. I'm surprised the authorities don't own up to it and look into these other cases," he said.