PETALING JAYA: The Judicial and Legal Service Commission is believed to have proposed to the prime minister to advise the king to remove Dzulkifli Ahmad as the anti-graft chief for his alleged relationship with a married woman.
Sources said commission members took that position to preserve the integrity and to maintain public confidence in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
A source said it would now be left to Prime Minister Najib Razak whether to accept or reject the recommendation of the commission which met in early December.
Under the MACC Act 2009, the king appoints the chief commissioner on the advice of the prime minister but nothing stops the government from revoking it prematurely.
“The prime minister has to give cogent reasons to the eminent members of the commission if he is rejecting their proposal and Dzulkifli remains,” a source told FMT.
According to the commission’s website, the current chairman is Arpah Abdul Razak, who is a retired senior civil servant.
Its members are Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali, Chief Judge of Malaya Ahmad Maarop, Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Richard Malanjum, Federal Court judge Azahar Mohamed, Court of Appeal judges Hasnah Mohammed Hashim and Rhodzariah Bujang, and High Court judge Kamaludin Md Said.
The commission secretary is Zainal Abidin Ahmad.
Apandi, when contacted via a WhatsApp message, did not confirm or deny that such a decision had been taken.
“You should ask the chairman or the secretary of SPKP (the Malay acronym for the commission),” he said, adding that he was currently overseas.
Apandi further said the people had the “right to know, right to ask and right to be informed…”
FMT attempted to get in touch with Zainal to verify if the commission had made such a decision and, if it was in the affirmative, whether it had been communicated to the prime minister or Chief Secretary to the Government Ali Hamsa. However, there was no response.
Similarly, there was no response from Ali.
Under the Federal Constitution, the commission’s functions, among others, are to appoint, promote, transfer and exercise disciplinary control over members under the Judicial and Legal Service.
Dzulkifli’s alleged misconduct comes under the purview of the commission as he is still an officer of the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) although on secondment to the MACC.
Dzulkifli, 49, who was previously head of the National Revenue Recovery Enforcement team in the AGC, took over the post in the MACC from Abu Kassim Mohamed on a five-year contract on Aug 1 last year.
Meanwhile, Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun on Dec 3, said police were in the final stages of investigations into Dzulkifli’s alleged affair with a woman who was married to a police officer.
However, he declined to comment whether police had recorded Dzulkifli’s statement.
Since October, the AGC had returned the investigation papers to the police three times to collect further evidence.
“I have no comment on that. There were some results we had to get and some forensic issues that we had to resolve.” he had told the media.
Dzulkifli was at the centre of a controversy after a series of video clips surfaced, showing him holidaying in Bali with a woman who is not his wife.
Police are investigating him under Section 498 of the Penal Code for enticing a married woman.
He has neither confirmed nor denied being the man in the clips, only saying he would not bow down to “dirty tactics”.
The woman said her divorce had nothing to do with Dzulkifli. -FMT
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