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KOTA KINABALU: The High Court on Thursday fixed March 18 to hear an application by Zara Qairina Mahathir’s mother to be made an interested party in a judicial review filed by an NGO seeking to quash the inquest into her daughter’s death on grounds it was conducted under the wrong law.

Judge Datuk Celestina Stuel Galid set the date after counsel Shahlan Jufri and Rizwandean M Borhan confirmed they had filed the application on Dec 23, 2025, on behalf of Noraidah Lamat.

In the application and supporting affidavit, Noraidah, as next-of-kin, stated she has a direct and substantial interest in the conduct and outcome of the inquest and sought leave to be heard, to oppose the judicial review at the leave and substantive stages, and to file affidavits and submissions.

She contended that the applicant, Pertubuhan Kebajikan Ekonomi Semangat Bersatu Malaysia (Pembela), has no direct interest in the inquest, that the judicial review is time-barred, and that striking out the inquest would adversely affect her statutory right to a full and lawful inquiry.

On Nov 21, 2025, Pembela chairman Datuk Seri Mohammad Jeffry Rosman filed the judicial review naming the Attorney-General and the Coroner’s Sessions Court as respondents, arguing that Sabah’s Inquest Ordinance 1959, rather than the federal Criminal Procedure Code, should have applied, while counsel Jul Hamri appeared for the applicant.