Children of late minister Jamaludin Jarjis strike out grandmother's suit on RM2.29 million in cash

Two children of the late Jamaludin Jarjis yesterday succeeded in striking out the suit filed by their grandmother on the distribution of their father’s RM2.29 million in cash, kept in local and foreign bank accounts.

High Court judge Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz allowed the application of Nur Anis Jamaludin, 37, and Ikhwan Hafiz, 35, as defendants, to strike out the suit of Aminah Abdullah, 88, who is the mother of the late Jamaludin.

Hayatul allowed the siblings’ application on the grounds that the suit could not be maintained, based on the legal principle of res judicata, as the same facts presented in separate cases had already been heard and decided by the High Court.

The court also ruled that the suit was oppressive to both defendants, and was an abuse of the court process.

Hayatul ordered Aminah, as the plaintiff, to pay costs of RM15,000 to each defendant within 14 days.

The matter was confirmed by lawyer K Shanmuga, representing Nur Anis and Ikhwan Hafiz, and lawyer Wan Zafran Pawancheek, representing Aminah.

Based on the statement of claim filed on May 31 last year, Aminah claimed that her two grandchildren, as joint administrators of Jamaludin’s estate, had control over money amounting to RM21.3 million in the accounts of Jamaludin in local and foreign banks.

Aminah claimed that as Jamaludin’s mother, she was entitled to one-sixth of the amount deposited in the account, namely RM2.29 million, based on the faraid (Islamic law to determine the distribution of assets) system.

On Aug 13 last year, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur granted Aminah's application to include three million units of Rantai Wawasan Sdn Bhd company shares in the list of Jamaludin's estate.

However, judge Mohd Firuz Jaffril rejected Aminah's application for a declaration that the six million units of shares in the company Alpine Motion Sdn Bhd, and two units of shares in the company Ivory Insight Sdn Bhd, were part of her late son’s estate.

Jamaludin, a former science, technology and innovation minister, was killed in a helicopter crash alongside five others in April 2015.