Cabinet minister Rais Yatim confirmed that an official complaint was lodged against a high court judge for plagiarism in 2000, when he was de facto law minister.
"Between then and now is a long time, but I was aware of the case," Rais, who is now information communication and culture minister, said when asked about the matter in Parliament House today.
"The matter was referred to the then Chief Justice Eusoff Chin to investigate and take action," explained Rais.
Eusoff retired as chief justice in on Dec 20, 2000 and was replaced by Mohd Dzaiddin Abdullah.
Rais said that after he was transferred to another cabinet portfolio in 2004, and thus did not follow up on the matter.
"I was no longer able to scrutinise what action was taken afterward," said Rais.
He said that it is up to the judicial authorities to follow up on the case.
Errant judge promoted
The High Court judge in question is now a serving Court of Appeal judge. He can only be removed by means of a tribunal.
The matter was brought up by Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh yesterday, when he sent in a notice to the Speaker's office requesting for a motion to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat to discuss the issue which has remained unresolved for over a decade.
The 60 Pakatan MPs which endorsed the motion, which among others, sought the sacking of the judge.
According to Karpal, the errant judge had, ironically, plagirised a former Singapore judge GP Selvam’s judgment on a copyright issue.
"I am also told that this created an uproar between the judges of Singapore and Malaysia. I was made to understand the Singapore chief justice has also written to our CJ (chief justice) to complain about the matter,” he told reporters yesterday.
The veteran lawyer added that he wrote to the said judge on Aug 22 and again Sept 29 informing judge of the said allegation.
Since no reply had been received so far, Karpal argued that this amounted to an admission of the misconduct.
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