Construction company Fawziah Holdings - who is set to defend a RM65 million award it obtained against toll concessionaire Metramac Holdings - is better off represented by its present counsel Dr Cyrus Das instead of high profile English barrister and wife of British prime minister, Cherie Blair.

The five parties objecting to her application to be admitted as an advocate and solicitor to the High Court of Malaya on an ad-hoc basis to represent Fawziah Holdings in the Federal Court appeal on June 14, told the High Court today that the Queen's Counsel (QC) does not have the experience and expertise needed for the case.

Instead, they argued that Fawziah Holdings would be better of with Das who has been representing Fawziah Holdings rather than Blair who is known as a human rights lawyer.

Metramac's lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah Blair said that Das was 'far better off than Blair' while Tommy Thomas - representing prominent businessman Abdul Halim Saad who is an intervener in the appeal - argued that the English barrister had 'failed miserably' in proving that she has exceptional qualities unavailable among Malaysian lawyers.

Thomas described her credentials of handling seven commercial law cases and 18 public administration one as 'nothing' for a QC who has been practicing for more than 30 years .

Also objecting to Blair's application is former finance minister Daim Zainuddin who is the other intervener in the appeal, the Attorney-General and the Malaysian Bar. The other parties will submit their arguments before Justice Wan Afrah Wan Ibrahim on Monday.

If Blair's application is allowed, she will appear for Fawziah Holdings in the final appeal by Metramac against a Court of Appeal decision on Jan 12 ordering it to pay RM65 million to Fawziah Holdings for loss of advertising rights.

On the same day, a five-member panel of the Federal Court will also hear applications by Daim and Halim to expunge all references made in relation to them in the written judgment of the Appeals Court.

Court of Appeal judge Gopal Sri Ram had in his judgment stated that Halim and his business partner Anuar Othman had siphoned off RM32.5 million from Metramac, the owner and operator of the East-West Expressway and the Sungai Besi Expressway, and that they had enjoyed the patronage of Daim.

Country's 'leading litigator'

In his submission, Shafee urged the court 'not to be distracted' by Blair's high profile background in making its decision on whether to allow her application.

"Taking away all the fanfare surrounding the applicant's high-profile figure, the simple question to be answered by this court is does the applicant posses special qualifications that is unavailable in the country," he said.

He further argued that Blair is more an expert in on human rights and labour law while the present case revolves around issues of judicial bias and the creation of a trust by a company.

He also said that legal authorities showed that Malaysian courts would not allow applications for ad hoc admissions under Section 18 of the Legal Profession Act (LPA) 1976.

" A special case must be shown. The applicant must demonstrate exceptional achievements not found among lawyers in the country with regard to the particular case she seeks admission for. We submit that she (Blair) has failed to satisfy this criteria," he said

He added that Fawziah Holdings would not be prejudiced if Blair's application is dismissed.

"The respondent (Fawziah Holdings) will be represented by Dr Cyrus Das , a senior member of the Bar with some 30 years standing who has regularly argued matters in the appellate courts of our country."

Concurring with Shafee was Thomas who is submission said that Das, was 'one of the country's leading litigator with imminent credentials'.

"I totally agree with the statement made by my learned friend Mr Shafee when he said that Dr Das is far better as compared to Cherie Blair whom I think has failed miserably and I choose my words deliberately. She fails miserably in this application".

He also urged the court to read Section 80 of the LPA very strictly because no other countries - save for a few - afford such reciprocal rights to legal practitioners.

"Let's think for a minute what happens if a Malaysian lawyer applies to be admitted in France or Germany? It's unthinkable! We are unique because we allow foreign counsel to come in on an ad-hoc basis but the court must construe the provisions with extreme care so the rights of the local lawyers are protected."

He also said with more than 12,000 members in the Malaysian Bar, it is 'nearly impossible' not to find a lawyer who specialises in whatever area of concern.

'First ever case'

Earlier, in his arguments, Das expressed his surprise at the positions taken by Metramac and the interveners in their objections against Blair's application.

"I am astonished with the positions that they have taken now. They now say that the issues are not complex and that the matters are trite law when they had said exactly the opposite during leave (submissions). So it's important at the leave stage but trite when it comes to this stage!"

He said Blair was an outstanding QC specialising in public and administrative law which is a 'spot on' to discuss the issue judicial bias.

"Bias and natural justice are exceptional cases discussed in public law and administrative law. This is a very serious issue as the appellant (Metramac) is seeking to negate an entire judgment made on a remark by a judge ( Gopal Sri Ram, pix ) against a third party.

"This is a first ever case where there is a serious challenge to the decision-making process of three appellate judges of the Court of Appeal. We have never done this. This is not some normal commercial case."

He said Blair's expertise was needed because the issue of bias raised would affect the entire judiciary.

"The issue is important as it goes on to discuss what the court can or cannot say in its observation. Where do we cross the line that an observation can be a complaint of bias?"