Apandi’s opinion on Gani’s sacking as AG

Right or wrong aside, was it proper?

COMMENT

Mohamed Apandi Ali has weighed in with his first legal opinion as Attorney- General.

Sadly, in doing so, he has been found wanting.

Abdul Gani Patail’s termination of service as the Attorney-General was done according to the Federal Constitution, he opined in a media statement released by his office on Wednesday.

“In the interest of the administration of justice, it is important that the public is not misled into thinking otherwise,” he added.

I do not intend to dwell or whether his interpretation is right or wrong. Others have already done so.

K Shanmuga on Loyar buruk supports his interpetation, while others, like Lim Kit Siang and Gobind Singh Deo say he is wrong.

My question is much more elementary

Why did he have to render his opinion in the first place?

Is it not the first rule of natural justice that no man should be a judge in his own cause?

Apandi was the immediate and direct beneficiary of Gani’s sacking, just as Hamid Omar was when he sat on the tribunal that adjudicated upon and dismissed former Lord President Salleh Abas.

Whether the new Attorney- General chooses to admit it or not, his opinion on the matter was bound to be coloured by a perception of bias.

He should have left the matter to be argued by others. Instead, he himself has tried to sway public opinion.

By forgetting the very first rule of natural justice, he has called into question his own credentials and put himself in dubious company of others who have violated the rule.

He has also made us wonder whether true justice in Malaysia is natural any more.