Malaysian court order to cough up MH370 papers

A Malaysian court has ordered the government and Malaysia Airlines to hand over reports, memos and notes.

Family members of the MH370 during a multi-faith prayer service for the victims of the downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near Kuala Lumpur, Friday, July 25, 2014.

A Malaysian court has ordered the government and Malaysia Airlines to hand over investi­gative reports, memos and notes on the disappearance of Flight MH370 to 76 plaintiffs suing for negligence and breach of duty.

A Kuala Lumpur high court judge granted general discovery yesterday to relatives of 32 missing passengers who were on board the March 8, 2014, Kuala Lumpur to Beijing flight.

The families, comprising 66 Chinese nationals, eight Indians and two US citizens, allege the airline failed to give a proper ­account of events that occurred during the flight, which relatives were later informed by text message had gone down in the Southern Indian Ocean.

In their March 3 statement of claim, they also allege negligence, breach of contract, breach of statutory duty and breach of the Montreal Convention by Malaysia Airlines Systems.

Michael Yap, representing the plaintiffs, said outside court the government had until Oct­ober 20 to comply with the order.

The plaintiffs have sought ­access to 37 documents, including notes, memos and all relevant investigative reports into the disappearance of MH370.

The government has objected to the application, branding it a “fishing” expedition.

MAS lawyer Saranjit Singh said he understood the plaintiffs were entitled to general ­discovery against the agency to assist their case against the ­government of Malaysia, website Malaysiakini reported.

But, he added, his client needed to read and understand the grounds of judgment to determine whether it should appeal the order.