A three-man Court of Appeal bench, chaired by Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, said the High Court judge did not make any error in his discretion to order MAS to provide the information sought.
“There is no compelling and substantial reason to disturb the findings of the judge,” she said in dismissing the appeal by MAS.
The court also ordered RM10,000 in costs to the next of kin, represented by Tommy Thomas.
On Sept 8, then judicial commissioner Azizul Azmi Adnan had granted family members of passengers, hailing from China, India and the United States, the general discovery of documents.
The family members had named MAS, the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) and the government in its suit.
With the exception of MAS, all the rest have agreed to comply with Azizul’s ruling.
The plaintiffs are seeking 37 items, including all notes, memoranda and investigative reports by any and all investigators who participated in the probe.
On March 3 last year, family members of 32 passengers on the plane sued MAS for alleged negligence and breach of duties.
They alleged the plane’s disappearance was caused by MAS’ negligence and that the national carrier had breached the Montreal Convention by causing the injuries and death of all 239 passengers and crew members.
They claimed DCA, RMAF and the government conspired with MAS in the investigation in a “grossly negligent manner” to delay the search, causing the deaths of all passengers and crew.
The next of kin are seeking damages and losses they suffered after their loved ones went missing.
MAS flight MH370 disappeared while en route to Beijing, China, from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in the early hours of March 8, 2014.
The families have said MAS gave no proper account of events that had happened during the flight which the next of kin were later informed, through text messages, had gone down in the Southern Indian Ocean.
The DCA director-general had on Jan 29, 2015 declared MH370 to be an accident and that all passengers and crew on board the flight were presumed to have lost their lives.
Earlier today, MAS’ lawyer Saranjit Singh said his client objected over the discovery of documents on the grounds that it was premature and not necessary.
“MAS has conceded liability after the government declared MH370 to be an accident.”
He said the plaintiffs wanted to get the information to prove their case against other defendants.
Thomas, however, argued that these documents, among others, related to the background and sequence of events of the incident and its search operations, which were relevant and critical evidence for the trial.
Saranjit said he needed to take instruction from his client on whether to appeal to the Federal Court.
Malaysian Airline System Berhad is now known as Malaysia Airlines Berhad.