When March 8 this year comes, all monies, assets and business of MAS would most likely be transferred to the new legal entity MAB, making it pointless to sue the former.
KUALA LUMPUR: Voice370, the support group for the families of MH370 victims, says those affected by the air tragedy intend to push their case in Court against Malaysian Airlines System Berhad (MAS), the predecessor of Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB), before time runs out but could do with a 60-day extension. There were 239 passengers and crew on board Flight MH370 which vanished on March 8, 2014 during a routine flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
Voice370, referring to cases filed against MAS by the next of kin, fears that all actions and cases before the courts could stop after March 8 when the time period for them to take legal action lapses.
There’s a moratorium in place for a maximum of two years.
“When the administration and moratorium ends, all monies, assets and business of MAS would most likely be transferred to the new legal entity MAB. Therefore there will be nothing left in MAS when (the) said moratorium ends, making it pointless to sue them,” Voice370 said in a statement released to the media.
“We urge Malaysia and other relevant authorities to extend the time period for such claims/lawsuits beyond March 8 by at least 60 days,” said the support group. “Voice370 will not stand by this injustice silently. The search must go on and when the facts are known, the companies and individuals responsible for the loss of MH370 must be brought to justice.”
Already, Voice370 has branded Malaysia Airlines a ploy by Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the airlines sole owner, “to shield itself from liability of negligence or other claims.”
Khazanah appointed an administrator in May last year to transfer selected assets and liabilities from MAS to MAB, which runs Malaysia Airlines and which took off on September 1, last year.
Under the Malaysian Airline System Berhad (Administration) Act 765, in force since February 20, 2015, a moratorium on any legal process against MAS and its subsidiaries takes effect once an administrator has been appointed. “No proceedings and no execution or other legal process in any court or tribunal may be commenced or continued with… against the Administered Companies or their property except with the prior written consent of the Administrator” during the moratorium.
Martin Dolan of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) who heads the search for MH370 in the southern reaches of the Indian Ocean said the operation may end in June. Other than a flaperon or wing flap found in July last year on a beach in Reunion Island in the western Indian Ocean, there has been no further sign of the aircraft despite a multinational search for two years.
-FMT-
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