TO ALL TAMIL, PUNJABI AND OTHER INDIAN LAWYERS PLEASE LIGHT A CANDLE FOR THE LATE JUSTICE AUGUSTINE PAUL

Ok first of all listen to this brief video:  https://youtu.be/p_tZNBjk4e8?si=HNGQmpv8P8A6ruKQ

You have to copy paste into your Search box. The relevant part begins at minute 3:20 onwards. 

N Surendran the lawyer says "Today they are in power and they are doing the same thing that shouldn't be done". Surendran was once a VP of PKR but in 2024 (after 26 years??) he left the party over differences over where the party was headed. 

Surendran it's called "a leopard can never change it's spots". Of course I have known these chameleons since 1983. Then in 1997 the backdoor business was blown wide open.  I believe Surendran and Co did not believe that backdoor business.  Hence the 26 years chasing the dragon. Well too bad and very late. 

But today I want to say something in defense of the late Justice Augustine Paul. Justice Augustine Paul delivered a judgement that remains unassailable until today. It was a water tight conviction. I believe they appealed the judgement but it did not go anywhere. And the full sentence was served. 

The case was open and shut, it had a simpler to follow script than a P Ramlee movie.  The evidence trail was so wide and thick. I recall the dumbest thing they did was after forcing a confession from that young woman they (they means the policemen) forced her to write a retraction of her accusations (about the backdoor business). They then put her retraction in an envelope and took it to the Post Office to mail it to Dr Mahathir. 

But at the Post Office after sticking the stamps on the envelope they (the policemen) went behind the postal counter, flashed their badges and asked the Postal clerk to place the Post Office chop on the postage stamps - as though the letter had been delivered thru the Post. Then they made mistake no. 195. They took the 'undelivered' letter with them - an offense because undelivered mail is the property of the Post Office - and took that letter and delivered it by themselves to Dr Mahathir's office. 

At Dr Mahathir's office the Mailing Clerk duly recorded it down that a letter was delivered to Dr Mahathir today but not by the Postman. The letter was delivered by a policeman. 

All this was regurgitated fully in Court, by the policemen, by the Post Office clerk, by the Mailing Clerk etc. Hensel and Gretel had left behind loaves of bread on the trail which was picked up by the investigators. It was a mixture of extreme stupidity and extreme arrogance.

So Mr Augustine Paul arrived at his verdict - guilty. 

Sadly at that time almost the entire class of lawyers - especially the Tamil, Punjabi and other Indian lawyers not only disagreed with Justice Augustine Paul but they said all sorts of nasty remarks about him. I guess for weeks and months the long bar at the Selangor Club was over the tipsy level. Now about 26 years later Surendran says 'Today they are in power and they are doing the same things that should not be done'.

What has flowed under the bridge can never be reversed. But it is never too late to light a candle for the late Yang Ariff Justice Augustine Paul (pic below). He made a fair judgement.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.