Sangeet may consider withdrawing suit against chief justice
Lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo today indicated that she might withdraw her legal challenge to declare that the chief justice had failed to defend the integrity and credibility of the judiciary over two alleged incidences of interference.
"I may withdraw, but it really depends on the progress from here," Sangeet told reporters after case management before judge Mohd Firuz Jaffril at the Kuala Lumpur High Court today...
Lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo today indicated that she might withdraw her legal challenge to declare that the chief justice had failed to defend the integrity and credibility of the judiciary over two alleged incidences of interference.
"I may withdraw, but it really depends on the progress from here," Sangeet told reporters after case management before judge Mohd Firuz Jaffril at the Kuala Lumpur High Court today.
Earlier, senior federal counsel S Narkunavathy indicated that the Attorney-General's Chambers requested that the applicant withhold the withdrawal pending the outcome of their application to expunge large portions of an affidavit from Court of Appeal judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer.
Narkunavathy said no decision has been made on the matter, and the judge had set Aug 6 as the next case management date.
Asked to confirm if she intended to withdraw the suit, Sangeet revealed that she had formally written to Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat for a re-investigation into the judicial misconduct allegations first made by Hamid Sultan (photo) in his 65-page affidavit.
Sangeet is relying on the affidavit for her lawsuit.
"I do not think the outcome of the Federal Court appeal addresses this complaint which is a stain on the Malaysian judiciary," Sangeet said referring to the Federal Court's unanimous decision to overturn the late Karpal Singh's sedition conviction over statements made on the 2009 Perak constitutional crisis.
"The fact that (until) today there has been no investigations or no real outcome about allegations of interference in the Court of Appeal's decision, I feel the matter still need to be investigated."
In his affidavit, Hamid alleged interference in a majority decision which initially decided to acquit Karpal of his charge under the Sedition Act 1948.
Karpal (photo) was charged with sedition for saying the removal of Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin as menteri besar and the appointment of Zambry Abdul Kadir in his place by the late Sultan Azlan Shah of Perak could be questioned in court.
On Feb 21, 2014, the High Court found Karpal guilty, but he died in a road accident two months later.
On May 30, 2016, his conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeal. However, Tengku Maimun, who sat on the appellate court panel at the time, ruled in Karpal's favour.
Given Tengku Maimun's previous position, Sangeet noted that a decision to re-investigate the allegations will take into account the right party to do so.
"That is pending at the moment, and that is my ultimate goal, to have these allegations investigated and not for it to just disappear," she stressed.
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