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The Bar needs an RCI to resolve judicial interference claim

LETTER | Justice Hamid Sultan Abu Backer, in a recent speech, revealed that he was put on ice for delivering the dissenting judgment in the popular M Indira Ghandi case.

Hamid said that immediately after delivery of the judgment, a top judge called up the entire corum and threw tantrums at him in an uncivilised manner. He also said that he was not assigned any public interest cases thereafter.

He has indicated a need to restore public confidence in the judiciary. Hamid challenged the Malaysian Bar to resolve for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to address the negative perceptions over the judiciary.

The revelation has shocked the public and shaken their confidence in the judiciary. To put it simply, the perception that it has created is that there may be decisions which are made at golf clubs instead of at the bench.

That is serious enough for the government to immediately appoint an RCI to investigate, as said by two retired senior judges.

The country is currently going through various legal challenges following the 1MDB affair, including the Equanimity. In the absence of an independent, intelligent and integrity judiciary, what result are we going to achieve?

The Indira Ghandi case was not the only one in which a negative perception about judiciary arose. With utmost due respect, there have been a number of others.

De facto Law Deputy Minister Hanipa Maidin assured that such incidents will not happen in new Malaysia.

That is welcome, but not sufficient to ensure it. So far, any changes in the judiciary has been minimal or cosmetic only. In light of the revelation, what is needed is a clean-up to ensure what the deputy minister assured.

In view of the above, I today urge the Bar Council to call for an EGM to resolve in favour of an RCI, to show that it is serious about it and that it wants an independent, intelligent and integrity judiciary.

I also added that the Malaysian Bar must ask for apex court corums to be assigned by a draw-lot process at least in public interest matters, so that there can be no corum-fixing in such matters.

In religious matters, the quorum must be a mixed one with at least one non-Muslim judge in a corum of three judges, and at least two non-Muslim judges in a corum of five judges, so that justice will not only be done but also be plainly seen to be done.


The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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