Police, MACC can't probe unwilling judges, claims lawyer

The police and the MACC cannot probe Court of Appeal judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer’s allegations of wrongdoing in the judiciary against his will, claims lawyer Arun Kasi.

This is because the enforcement agencies are part of the government’s executive arm, Arun said, and therefore cannot compel unwilling judges to have their statements recorded.

“If they were to take a statement from a judge irrespective of whether they are willing to do so, that would be a breach of separation of powers. 

"So we have a situation that the police and the MACC cannot handle. Then who else can handle this? 

"This is the reason for everyone saying that there should be a royal commission of inquiry, because an RCI has wide-ranging powers and is constituted under the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1950,” he said.

Arun was speaking on the 'Agenda Awani' talk show broadcast on Astro Awani tonight.

Hamid had claimed in an affidavit last week that certain members of the judiciary had been aiding private parties to defraud the government, and repeatedly stressed the need for an RCI to look into the matter.

The judge refused to have his statement recorded when approached by the MACC in his chambers yesterday, with his lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla saying his client would only provide information to a special taskforce that is set up as a precursor to an RCI.

Haniff, also a guest on the Astro Awani talk show, reiterated that the taskforce should comprise a retired judge, a retired individual from the Attorney-General's Chambers, and a retired private lawyer.

He added that if possible, the trio should also have retired before 2000 to ensure that they themselves are not involved in the alleged misconduct.

The lawyer also said that this taskforce should be allowed three months to gather information from members of the public on a confidential basis, before reverting to the government with recommendations on the RCI’s terms of reference. - Mkini