The recent decision by High Court judge S Augustine Paul to grant bail to murder accused lawyer Balwant Singh has raised the question why jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim's repeated applications for bail were denied, said Anwar's lawyer Sankara Nair.

Sankara said while he welcomed Paul's decision to allow Balwant to be released on a RM500,000 bail, he questioned why the same principle was not applied to Anwar.

"In this case, Balwant was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code which carries the mandatory death sentence.

"Datuk Seri Anwar's application should have been similarly allowed, more [so] as his charges under Section 2 of the Emergency Ordinance carried only 14 years maximum jail," he said when contacted.

On Aug 9, Paul set a precedent in the area of non-bailable offences when he granted bail to Balwant, 81, who claimed trial to murdering despatch rider R Gopala Krishnan, 33, at Jalan Maarof, Bangsar in Kuala Lumpur at 4.30pm on June 7.

When Anwar, who is currently serving a 15-year jail sentence at the Sungai Buloh prison, was first brought to court before Paul in September 1998 to answer his 10 charges of corrupt practices and sodomy, his request for bail was rejected twice by the judge.

Paul's decision was then affirmed by the Court of Appeal. On April 14, 1999 Paul sent Anwar to jail for six years on four charges of corrupt practice.

Anwar who claimed that the charges were trumped up to kill his political career, had appealed against the conviction but was dismissed by both the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court. Recently he filed for a judicial review to set aside the Federal Court's decision.

One set or two?

Comparing the two bail cases involving the same judge, Sankara told malaysiakini "[it] appeared that the principle adopted by Paul in Balwant's application had not been 'evenly and fairly' exercised.

"In respect of Anwar's application for bail, it seemed that the principle was wantonly disregarded. If equality before the law is a fundamental precept in our legal system, then [a] similar principle ought to have been applied to my client's application.

"Since he was not granted bail, one can only wonder whether the country's legal system is subscribing to one set or two sets of principle," he said.

To ensure the requirements of public interest were satisfied in granting Balwant bail, Paul had imposed seven conditions, including the surrender of the accused's firearm and licence to the police.

He added that the factors to be taken into account in granting bail were the gravity of the offence, possibility of the accused absconding or tampering with witnesses, public interest, and health and age of the accused.

"No argument was advanced by the prosecution to at least indicate that the accused would abscond or tamper with witnesses if released on bail as these are vital elements to be considered in the granting of bail," Paul said.