KUALA LUMPUR, Oct. 14 -- The Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court ruling ordering the government and police to pay RM1.1 million in damages to the mother of Dutch model Ivana Smit over alleged investigative failures following her 2017 death.

A three-judge bench chaired by Justice Datuuk Zaini Mazlan unanimously allowed the government's appeal, setting aside all general, aggravated, and exemplary damages, alongside mandatory operational directives, FMT reported.

Delivering the judgment grounds, Justice K. Muniandy ruled that police do not owe an actionable private law duty of care to individual complainants or bereaved relatives regarding the conduct of investigations.

"While law enforcement authorities owe duties to the public a...