Gobind: Task force on probe over MACC’s Dzulkifli of no value

PETALING JAYA: DAP’s legal bureau chief Gobind Singh Deo has questioned the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) for forming a task force on allegations of an extramarital affair involving Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Dzukifli Ahmad when normal police investigations would suffice.

“Ordinarily every police report is assigned to an investigating officer (IO) who will probe the matter in accordance with law,” the Puchong MP said.

“The laws currently in place are more than sufficient for the purposes of probing a case under Section 498 of the Penal Code.

“We must respect the law and appreciate that every criminal investigation needs to be conducted in accordance with the law if that investigation is to be later upheld by any court of law,” he added in a statement today.

Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali had announced on Oct 19 that the task force was formed on Oct 16 in view of the seriousness of the allegations that could affect Dzulkifli’s integrity.

He said it would closely monitor the investigations of the alleged offences under Section 498, which deals with “enticing or taking away or detaining with a criminal intent a married woman”, and other related offences.

Gobind said the current framework in any such investigation is designed to ensure impartiality and fairness to all concerned.

“It places the fate of a case in the hands of an IO and not any special task force which monitors investigations,” he said.

“The IO must work within his powers having regard to the best interests of both the state and the suspect in the case.

“It is the IO who may testify in court later and he may be subject to cross examination. It is his credibility and not that of any special task force which will be on trial,” he added.

Gobind said he was of the view that the task force would not be of any value to the probe.

“We should not develop a new culture of setting up special task forces in individual cases. This may be a dangerous precedent which should not be encouraged,” he said.

He added that there was no reason for the probe to be dealt with differently from any other criminal investigation.

He said the Federal Constitution had stipulated that all persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law.

“This must necessarily apply to MACC chief Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad as well,” Gobind said.

Dzulkifli became embroiled in the allegation after a video showing a man said to be a senior MACC officer apparently holidaying with a woman in Bali went viral on social media last week. -FMT