The Kuala Lumpur High Court fixed Jan 21 for a decision on Court of Appeal judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer’s judicial review leave application against the Judges' Ethics Committee.
Judge Mariana Yahya today set the decision date on the leave application for Hamid Sultan to commence judicial review against the current quorum of the committee, which is investigating his affidavit regarding alleged abuses and fraud in the judiciary.
Hamid Sultan seeks to challenge the quorum as some of the judges there were allegedly linked to his affidavit over purported judicial misconduct.
Hamid Sultan’s lawyer Bastian Pius Vendargon confirmed the outcome of today’s proceedings.
“The court has fixed Jan 21 next year for decision on the judicial review leave application. The present interim stay against the committee (pending disposal of the judicial review) has also been extended until that date,” Bastian said.
Filed on Oct 20, the judicial review leave application named the committee and its chairperson as the two respondents in the matter.
On Oct 9, Hamid Sultan also filed an originating summons against the committee, its chairperson, and two lawyers over the investigation into the affidavit. The two lawyers are Sangeet Kaur Deo and Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla.
The current judicial review leave application alleged that it would be “highly prejudicial, procedurally incorrect, and a breach of natural justice” to allow judges, who were alleged to be part of the bench that heard appeals linked to the cases of PKR president Anwar Ibrahim and the late veteran lawyer Karpal Singh, to be part of the committee probing the issue of Hamid Sultan’s affidavit.
Hamid Sultan’s affidavit contained allegations linked to the previous appeals involving Anwar’s sodomy case and Karpal’s sedition case, among others.
Meanwhile, when met after proceedings today, senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambali confirmed the date of decision.
Coming from the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), he is acting for the committee and its chairperson.
He explained that the gist of their submissions objecting against the granting of leave is that Hamid Sultan’s legal action is premature and an abuse of court process.
He said they argued that this was because the committee has not made any final decision against Hamid Sultan, among others.
Speaking to the media today, Bastian said that in a counter against the AGC’s arguments in court, they submitted that judicial review leave can still be granted even if the impugned committee has not issued any final decision against Hamid Sultan.
Bastian said they submitted that this is an appropriate case for leave to be granted as it involved the issue of the committee having allegedly exceeded its power and jurisdiction, which also involved an alleged breach of natural justice and procedural fairness, among others.
On Aug 16, it was reported that Hamid Sultan had received a show-cause letter from the Judges' Ethics Committee in relation to the affidavit.
Hamid Sultan had made several claims in his affidavit filed in February last year, prompting the then Pakatan Harapan government to mull a royal commission of inquiry.
However, the commission did not materialise as the Harapan government collapsed in late February this year.
Sangeet had relied on Hamid Sultan’s affidavit in her lawsuit against the chief justice over alleged judicial misconduct. However, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed her suit on Oct 22 last year.
Haniff Khatri had previously tried but had not succeeded in his bid to intervene in Sangeet’s lawsuit against the chief justice. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.