Court sets April 17 to decide who will represent judge in expungement application

Lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla.

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has given parties two weeks to determine the next step in the application by the chief justice to expunge an explosive affidavit filed by a senior judge.

Lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla said judge Mohd Firuz Jaffril fixed April 17 for updates on the matter.

Haniff, who appeared for Court of Appeal judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer as a watching brief counsel, said Hamid’s solicitor Joyce Wilson Appukuttan had written to the Malaysian Bar yesterday.

“This was to find out whether the Bar will become intervener in the application by the chief justice to expunge almost all of the contents in the affidavit,” he told reporters.

He said at the Bar’s annual general meeting on March 16, a motion to ask the lawyers’ group to intervene in the matter was not put to vote.

“Now we want to know the position of the new Bar Council,” he said.

If the Bar declines, he said, Hamid may have to intervene or ask his legal team to act as a friend of the court to assist in the expungement of the application.

On March 13, the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), which is representing the chief justice, applied to expunge parts of Hamid’s affidavit affidavit on grounds of relevancy, saying the content was scandalous and hearsay evidence.

Hamid filed the 65-page affidavit on Feb 14 in support of a lawsuit brought lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo, who is the daughter of the late Karpal Singh.

Sangeet, in her action in January to sue anyone holding the post of chief justice, said the current top judge Richard Malanjum had failed to defend and preserve the integrity of the judiciary.

Hamid alleged in the affidavit that senior judges had intervened in the decision of numerous appeals including Karpal’s sedition appeal in the Court of Appeal.

He claimed some judges had abetted in scams carried out by nominees of politicians who had entered into contracts with the government.

He also claimed that once the government pulled out of a deal, the private parties would take the government to court to claim compensation.

Sangeet said she has filed her reply in response to the AGC’s move to expunge the affidavit as well as to the suit against the chief justice. - FMT