'Something is going on' – lawyer pans minister's excuse for delaying RCI

Senior lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdulla is not convinced by de facto Law Minister Liew Vui Keong's argument for delaying the proposed Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into allegations of judicial misconduct.

According to him, the minister was wrong to claim the RCI would be deferred until a decision is made on the originating summons filed by former Sabah chief minister Yong Teck Lee regarding the matter.

"To me, as a practising lawyer, that is a very non-legal argument or reason given by the minister of law to defer the RCI.

"First of all, in law, any matter can only be stopped or injuncted if there is a court order to that effect.

"What we know is that Yong filed the suit (about) six weeks ago but there is no court order stopping an RCI.

“In law, if there is no court order stopping something, we should go on first and when the court says it is wrong, then we stop it," Haniff told Malaysiakini today. 

The lawyer, who has acted for Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, said this is the second time that the minister, who hails from Sabah, had deferred the RCI.

The first was when Liew (photo) put the RCI on hold due to an internal investigation by the then chief justice Richard Malanjum.

"It (investigation by Malanjum) wasted time," he added.

Haniff said Liew could just proceed with the RCI as the court in Sabah would take into consideration the fact that the commission is exercising its duties with the consent of the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong.

"What I'm saying is this, he (Liew) can start, the RCI can be convened.

“The fact that the RCI is convened itself will be taken into consideration by the Sabah court whether to allow Yong the prayer or not because the king has already consented to the RCI.

"So, these three reasons are enough to show that our minister of law is not assisting in resolving the issue of the RCI under the concept of rule of law," he said.

"Something is going on," Haniff later stressed.

Earlier today, Malaysiakini reported that certain quarters within Pakatan Harapan, as well as former top judges, are opposed to the RCI.

A high-ranking government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, implied that there could be hidden hands behind Yong's originating summons on the constitutionality of the RCI.

In a press statement later, Yong (above) denied this, claiming he had strong and sufficient grounds to file the originating summons on April 29.

The SAPP president also said he was advised by senior lawyers highly respected in the legal fraternity regarding this.

Yesterday, Liew said the government would wait until July 2 for the court to decide on Yong's application.

In February, Mahathir said the government would establish an RCI following Court of Appeal judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer's explosive allegations in an affidavit.

In the affidavit, Hamid, who alleged judicial impropriety, expressed regret that the then chief justice Malanjum is not seeking an RCI. - Mkini