Ex-judge: SB sought my biodata after landmark ISA decision

A former top judge has reminisced how, after he ordered the release of two Internal Security Act (ISA) detainees 14 years ago, he was subjected to criticism from the then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, then de facto law minister Rais Yatim and deputy minister M Kayveas.

Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus said after delivering his decision in the case of Abdul Ghani Haroon and N Gobalakrishnan, in which he ordered the release of the two, he went on leave. Then, a Special Branch officer (SB) came to his office and asked his secretary for his biodata.

“My secretary replied that she does not have the details and asked the SB officer to get it from a deputy registrar of the court. The SB officer went to meet the deputy registrar and she gave him a copy.

“Later the deputy registrar met me and apologised for giving my biodata to the SB, explaining that the officer said he wanted it to ensure my safety,” said Hishamudin, who was then High Court judge in Shah Alam.

“I was wondering, safety from what? I was disturbed initially as to why a Special Branch officer had to snoop around for my details, and what were they up to.”

Hishamudin, who retired as a Court of Appeal judge last September, said this in a keynote address at a Human Rights Day event at the Universiti Malaya Law Faculty yesterday.

He said he asked the deputy registrar what was wrong with the ISA decision as he thought everybody was happy.

The deputy registrar replied that Umno Youth was not happy.

“I felt disturbed and was worried that someone was trying to get something against me. Plainclothes policeman were seen coming to my house and even marked their visit on my house logbook. Thank God nothing happened to me and there was no tribunal (to remove him from the judiciary),” he joked.

Decision ruffled feathers

Hishamudin said the call he made in the Abdul Ghani and Gobalakrishnan judgment, suggesting that the ISA be abolished or amended so as to avoid abuses, ruffled some feathers on the political front.

“The minister in charge of the administrative affairs of the judiciary (sadly, of all persons!), a lawyer himself (Rais Yatim), made the press statement that it is unusual for a judge to make such a comment.

“A deputy minister (Kayveas) was quoted on the TV3 news as saying that it was inappropriate for Hishamudin, as a High Court judge, to have made such a suggestion.

“The then prime minister (Dr Mahathir) said in a press statement that judges who ‘disliked’ the ISA should not hear ISA cases. I was alarmed by these attacks. I never had such an experience before.

“But a retired Supreme Court Judge, the late Harun Hashim, came to my defence and said what was rightly needed to be said: that it is normal for judges in delivering judgments to suggest the abolishment of obsolete laws or to suggest amendments to the laws,” he said.

Hishamudin recalled that on the morning he delivered the decision, the courtroom was empty but as soon as he ordered the release of Abdul Ghani and Gobalakrishnan (photo) at 3.30pm that same day, the courtroom was full of police officers and men.

He clearly remembered that there was also a helicopter hovering over the Shah Alam High Court complex, and following an application by lawyers for the two, led by Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, that no re-arrest be made outside court, he allowed the order to be carried out.

Hishamudin said the police complied with the order and the two were released, despite saying earlier, after the court decision was issued, that they did not know where Abdul Ghani and Gobalakrishnan were.

In his lecture yesterday, the former Court of Appeal judge, who has made many landmark decisions, also expressed concern over recent decisions by the apex court, which he said appeared tocurtail fundamental rights.

He also reminded the law students, who would one day be lawyers, administrators and even judges, that they should never forget to uphold and to practice the rule of law when holding these positions.

They should also honour the supremacy of the Federal Constitution, the doctrine of separation of powers, protect fundamental liberties and reinforce the independence of the judiciary. -Mkini