KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and Putrajaya have been given a two-week extension to file their defence in a lawsuit brought against them by the next of kin of a passenger on flight MH370.

Counsel Datuk Dr Arunan Selvaraj, who is representing the family of businessman Jee Jing Hang, said MAS lawyers and representatives from the Attorney-General’s Chambers and Putrajaya were present at the case management session in the Jalan Duta High Court yesterday.

“They asked for an extension as the suit involves many parties and they needed more time to study the documents and prepare their defence. The registrar granted them two weeks’ extension. They will need to submit their defence by Dec 15,” said Arunan.

He said all parties will appear in front of a judge for another case management session on Jan 12. “The judge will then decide on the trial date,” said Arunan.

Legal firm Messrs Rusmah Arunan & Associates filed the suit on behalf of the next of kin of Jee at the Kuala Lumpur High Court registry on Oct 31.

MAS, the Civil Aviation Department, the Immigration Department, and the Royal Malaysian Air Force were named as defendants in the lawsuit for negligence, and in the case of MAS, breach of contract.

Flight MH370, with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board, left the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 12.41am on March 8 and disappeared from civilian radar about an hour later while over the South China Sea.

Of the passengers, 152 were Chinese citizens, including a group of 19 artists with six family members and four staff members returning from an exhibition of their calligraphy work in Kuala Lumpur. Thirty-eight passengers were Malaysians while the rest were from 13 other countries.

The Boeing 777-200ER aircraft has yet to be found, even after an extensive search in the southern Indian Ocean where it is believed to have gone down after veering off course.

It is learnt that Jee’s family decided to file the suit after giving the authorities time to locate the plane. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on December 2, 2014.