The Court of Appeal has directed the government to enter its defence against a suit brought by 184 victims of the Nipah virus outbreak in 1999.

They had appealed against a Kuala Lumpur High Court decision last February to dismiss their RM130 million suit, on grounds that they had not identified the government officers responsible for the damages.

Today, however, a three-member bench comprising Justice Gopal Sri Ram, Richard Malanjum and Hashim Yusoff decided there was no need for the appellants to name all the officers involved and the co-defendants.

File defence

The court also directed the government to file its defence by June 30 and set the matter for case management in the high court on April 20.

The appellants, comprising pig farmers and families of deceased victims and survivors, had filed the suit in 2002.

They are seeking various damages including special damages for the loss of pigs, damage to their farms and medical and funeral expenses.

Four defendants have been named in their statement of claims - the federal government and the governments of Negri Sembilan, Perak and Selangor.

The appellants were represented by counsels R Sivarasa, Ser Choon Ing and Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, while the government was represented by senior federal counsels Mary Lim and Amarjit Singh.