A three-member bench chaired by Azizah Nawawi said there was merit in the appeal and allowed it in part.
The families of Shamil Hafiz Shapiei, Hairul Nizam Tuah, and Hanafi Omar are now each entitled to RM210,000 in damages instead of RM500,000 awarded by the High Court two years ago.
The bench, which also consisted of justices S Nantha Balan and Zaini Mazlan, set aside the award of RM100,000 in general damages for pain and suffering awarded to the next of kin of the deceased.
It was instead substituted with an award of RM10,000 for bereavement.
Azizah said the bench also set aside the award of RM100,000 for exemplary damages and an additional sum of RM100,000 given to the estate of each family on the grounds that an identical sum had been awarded as damages for misfeasance in public office.
The court, however, maintained an award of RM100,000 to each of the families as aggravated damages.
Lawyer Zaid Malek, who represented the families in today’s proceedings, said Hairul and Hanafi’s families will also get an additional RM11,200 and RM8,000, respectively, awarded by the High Court in dependency claims, which the appellate court did not disturb.
Senior federal counsel Noerazlim Saidil appeared for the government.
The High Court had originally dismissed the families’ lawsuit in 2015, saying that the police officers had acted in self-defence.
However, that decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal the following year.
The appeals court instead ruled the police were liable for causing their deaths in a shootout in Glenmarie on Nov 13, 2010. It went on to order that the High Court registrar assess the damages payable.
The registrar initially awarded RM207,000 in damages.
On appeal in June 2021, High Court judge Khatijah Idris enhanced the damages, awarding a total of RM1.5 million for general damages for assault and battery, causing pain and suffering, and misfeasance in public office, as well as aggravated and exemplary damages.
Hairul and Hanafi were 22 and 21 years old when they died, while Shamil was 15.
Their families filed the lawsuit in 2013 against the police and the government for negligence, assault and battery.
Others named in the suit were police officers Azrin Ezahar, Kamarul Zaman Awang and Khairul Azahar Jali.
The police had in their defence claimed that the youths were suspected of being members of a gang known as ‘Geng Minyak’, said to have been involved in a series of robberies committed at petrol stations.
Those claims were refuted by the families, who said none of the trio had a criminal record. They instead claimed that the youths were shot in “execution style”, with bullets entering their body at 45-degree angles directed inwards and downwards.