A former Court of Appeal judge said he was startled by the recent majority judgment by the Federal Court which decided not to award exemplary damages of RM300,000 to the mother and family of A Kugan who died in custody nine years ago.

The damages awarded by the High Court were upheld by the Court of Appeal.

Commenting on the verdict, Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus said he agreed with the dissenting judgment given by Justice Zainun Ali on applying common law principles...