In their application for an extension of time, the family members claimed they were unaware that the 2019 investigation into Teoh’s death was conducted under Section 342 of the Penal Code, which relates to wrongful confinement.

Under the law, an application to commence judicial review proceedings challenging an administrative decision must be filed within three months of the date the decision was made.

Teoh’s family said they only discovered through a letter issued by the police in January that no investigations for murder or culpable homicide not amounting to murder had been initiated.

Two special investigation teams were established in 2011 and 2015 to investigate Teoh’s death, but the public prosecutor classified both cases as requiring no further action (NFA).

The family contended that the wrongful confinement investigation involved “a minor criminal offence relative to murder or culpable homicide” and was unrelated to Teoh’s death.

The High Court fixed July 23 to hear the family’s application for an extension of time.

In their judicial review application filed last month, the family sought a declaration that Teoh’s death should be investigated as murder, as well as a court order compelling the police to complete the investigation within 120 days.

Teoh, who was an aide to then Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead in July 2009 on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam, hours after arriving for questioning at the Selangor office of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

An inquest initially returned an open verdict. However, in 2014, the Court of Appeal ruled that his death was caused by “one or more unknown persons”, including MACC officers.

Police completed the wrongful confinement investigation last year following a court order in 2024, and the Attorney-General’s Chambers later directed that the case be classified as NFA due to insufficient evidence.