The High Court here today rejected an application by the government to strike out a negligence suit by a taxi driver over the duplication of his identity card (IC).
Mohammad Daud Salleh claimed the National Registration Department (NRD) had issued two ICs under his name, bearing the same number, for him and another individual.
Judicial Commissioner Lee Swee Seng made the decision in chambers to reject the application, upon hearing submissions filed by former and current NRD directors-general, Home Ministry and the government.
Yusfarizal Yusoff and Mohamad Zaid Daud appeared for Mohammad Daud while senior federal counsel Suhaila Haron represented the four defendants.
Yusfarizal told reporters the court found there was reasonable cause of action for the negligence suit to go for full trial and that it should not be struck out.
He said the court had agreed with his submissions that the duplication of the IC had caused problems to his client.
Yusfarizal said the court had set April 24 for case management of the suit for the defendants to file their statement of defence.
Facts of the case
On Jan 4, Mohammad Daud, 42, filed the suit against the four defendants after he found out several years ago that someone had been issued the same IC number by the NRD.
He said when he went to NRD to replace his old IC with MyKad in 2005, he was shocked when the department told him that someone else had taken his MyKad which bore his name and number.
Later, the taxi driver added, he was issued with the MyKad with the new number.
However, the new MyKad compounded Mohammad Daud’s problem when he received several traffic summonses for a car which he did not own, and numerous telephone calls from a bank which demanded he repay a car loan which the taxi driver denies ever taking.
In his statement of claim, he said he refused to accept the MyKad as he had used his old IC for all transactions, including bank transactions and his children’s birth certificates and his marriage certificate.
He said the new MyKad bearing the new number did not settle his problem as a third party was still using his old IC number under his name.
In the suit, the taxi driver wants the NRD to cancel the other duplicated IC and make a declaration he had the right over the old IC.
He is also seeking exemplary damages from the NRD over the department’s negligence in issuing the two ICs with the same number and name to a different person, causing him problems as there was another individual using his old IC.
— Bernama
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