A former investigating officer in Anwar Ibrahim’s second sodomy case has succeeded in his appeal to set aside a High Court decision which prevented his admission as an advocate and solicitor.

A Court of Appeal three-member panel chaired by Justice Linton Albert unanimously allowed the appeal brought by Judy Blacious s/o AF Pereira (better known as Jude Blacious Pereira).

He held that the High Court judge had made her ruling based on a notice of objection and notice of caveat against his admission which was filed by the Bar Council, and not on his petition.

He said the court found that Pereira had not yet filed his petition under Section 15 (1) of the Legal Profession Act 1976 for enrollment and admission as advocate and solicitor and therefore, the High Court had not sat down to hear his petition.

“In those circumstances, we allow the appeal and order for the petition to be heard by the High Court,” said Albert, who later fixed Sept 18 for mention of the case at the High Court.

Pereira’s counsel, Dominic Selvam, said his client would file his petition at the Kuala Lumpur High Court before the mention date.

Presiding with Albert on the bench were Court of Appeal judge Rohana Yusuf and High Court judge Vernon Ong Lam Kiat.

On Jan 15, this year, High Court judge Zaleha Yusof allowed the Bar Council’s notice of objection and notice of caveat against Pereira’s admission to practise law.

The Bar Council objected to Pereira’s admission, citing a finding of an inquiry by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) in a case involving the arrest of five lawyers during a candlelight vigil which found that Pereira was not a credible witness.

Earlier, Selvam submitted that his client had only filed documents to appear in chamber matters after completing three months of pupilage in October 2012.

He said Pereira did not file a petition to be called to the Bar as he had yet to complete his nine-month pupilage as required under the Legal Profession Act.

Selvam said the Bar Council filed its notice of objection and notice of caveat before Pereira submitted his petition for admittance, adding that the High Court had prematurely decided on the matter when there was no petition filed yet.

‘Decision up to Chief Judge and not High Court judge’

He said it was for the Chief Judge of Malaya and not the High Court judge to decide whether Pereira was a fit and proper person to be admitted as lawyer.

Lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar said the High Court made its ruling after having cited a petition filed by Pereira, adding that the High Court did not make any error which warranted the Court of Appeal’s intervention.

On March 7, this year, the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya reversed a High Court decision to acquit Anwar on a charge of allegedly sodomising his former aide, Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

The Court of Appeal found Anwar guilty on the charge and sentenced him to five years’ jail. Anwar’s final appeal would be heard by the Federal Court on Oct 28.

- Bernama