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Will judge recuse himself in PM vs M'kini suit?

High Court judge Kamaludin Md Said will hear an application tomorrow by Malaysiakini to have him recuse himself from hearing a suit filed by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak against the company.

Malaysiakini has sought Justice Kamaludin's recusal on grounds that he was transferred to the Seremban High Court on Jan 1 and that the matter is still undergoing case management.

Documents filed by the company state that it was not normal practice for a Seremban High Court judge to hear a matter filed in Kuala Lumpur, that there is no special circumstances for this and that a hearing date for the suit has yet to be fixed.

Justice Kamaludin ( photo ) was initially slated to hear Najib's application to strike out Malaysiakini's defence and counterclaim tomorrow .

Yesterday, a separate judicial review application to challenge the Chief Judge of Malaya's decision to appoint Justice Kamaludin to hear the case was dismissed by High Court judge Justice Asmabi Mohamad.

Ensuring fairness

According to supporting affidavits filed by Mkini Dot Com Sdn Bhd general manager K Manohar, the directive by the CJM is not in line or in accordance with the law or practice directions.

"The trial has yet to start and that this application should have been heard before the Civil High Court division. There is no basis for this judge to hear the suit which originated from the Civil High Court.

"On advice from our lawyers the company had sent numerous letters to the CJM and his special assistant and the reply was Justice Kamaludin is asked to preside the case and the reason for that matter was that the judge had presided the matter during case management.”

However, Manohar said Justice Kamaludin had not presided this case during case management as this was done before the deputy registrar.

"The directive for Justice Kamaludin to hear the case is a breach from the normal practice. It is indeed strange that a Seremban High Court judge is ordered to hear the case in KL, when this case has not started and it is not a continuation of trial," he said.

"It is vital that the independence of the judiciary is guaranteed.This scenario would result in fair minded and informed bystanders to think there are elements of biasness."

Manohar added that the independence of the judiciary is a principle in the Federal Constitution and as defendants in this suit rely on this norm that the judiciary must not only be independent but be seen to be independent.

Najib, along with Umno organising secretary Abdul Rauf Yusoh, filed the suit against Malaysiakini last year following two articles containing readers' comments over the Terengganu menteri besar imbroglio.

( Note: Readers comments for this article has been disabled )

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