A lawyer who claims to have represented the Johor sultan at one time was successful in *applying via a summons in chambers to transfer all cases related to his on-going RM10 million civil suit against a contractor and part-time photographer, from the Johor Baru High Court to Kuala Lumpur following allegations of  intervention from the palace.

*Johor Baru Civil High Court judge Vernon Ong said that, as the subject matter of the defamation relates to the plaintiff's role as the solicitor to the Sultan of Johor, it would be preferable for this action to be tried at the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

"Further as the internal memo relates to the same issue, it may give rise to perception that justice may not be done. This will be consistent with the basic principle that justice must not only be done, but must be seen to be done. Accordingly, the application (to transfer) the case from Johor Baru to Kuala Lumpur is allowed with costs," Ong ruled.

The lawyer has also been successful in seeking a stay of the civil suit proceeding, which he also claims is affected by palace interference.

In documents obtained by Malaysiakini , the lawyer, Kamal Hisham Jaafar, 41, who is understood to be living outside the state as a result of this matter, is making the application under Section 25(2) of the Courts of Judicature Act to transfer the case.

The lawyer claims in his application that an interdivisional memo dated April 13 this year was issued by the sultan’s personal secretary to him and the Johor courts, including the presiding judge in his civil dispute.

The memo claims that the lawyer no longer represents the sultan or the royal family.

Kamal Hisham claims the memo had violated the principle of separation of powers between the judiciary and the monarch which may affect the judgment of the judges presiding over the matter.

Following this, he made the application to have all his cases transferred to KL for fear it would prejudice him.

Poison-pen letter alleges he cheated sultan

In his supporting affidavit to the application, Kamal Hisham claims he filed an on-going civil suit against the contractor, Mohamad Ali Ismail, in March this year following the emergence of a poison-pen letter allegedly written by the photographer which he claims is defamatory against him.

He claims the poison-pen letter was slanderous against him in claiming that he had conspired with other individuals to cheat the sultan in allegedly selling vehicle licence plates allocated to the monarch to others and reaping profits worth thousands of ringgit.

Mohamad Ali, whom the lawyer claims is backed by the sultan, has filed a RM100 million counter-claim.

The defamatory letter has put him in a bad light as it showed him to be an untrustworthy person who had cheated the sultan, that he is a traitor and amassed profit illegally using his professional relationship with the sultan, claimed the lawyer.

Kamal Hisham said the interdivisional memo had violated the principle of the separation of powers as the on-going dispute is related to slander over the period when he had represented the sultan.

The lawyer claims his judicial review application is with merits as the case is presently being heard in Johor and that the memo, after it was issued, may prejudice his application.

The Star had also reported in May that the police are looking for Kamal Hisham’s whereabouts over a cheating probe.

According to Kamal Hisham’s family members the police have also been requested to transfer the case from Johor to Bukit Aman.

*Editor's note: These corrections were made after they were brought to our attention by the court in a letter dated Aug 10. The errors are regretted.