Karpal’s daughter appeals against refusal to probe judicial interference

Lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo, the daughter of the late Karpal Singh.

KUALA LUMPUR: Lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo has filed an appeal against the High Court’s dismissal of her suit requiring the chief justice (CJ) to conduct an investigation into allegations of interference in the sedition case of her late father Karpal Singh.

Sangeet said she filed the notice of appeal at the Court of Appeal last month.

On Oct 22, High Court judge Mohd Firuz Jaffril threw out the suit, saying it was no longer sustainable as the Federal Court had acquitted Karpal of the charge earlier this year.

“The originating summons is academic as Karpal’s case is no longer a live issue,” he said.

Firuz also allowed the CJ’s application to remove almost all the contents of an explosive affidavit filed by Court of Appeal judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer in support of Sangeet’s suit.

The judge said the affidavit was scandalous, vexatious and frivolous and that some of the averments in the document were hearsay.

Sangeet said she had also filed an appeal on this matter.

In her action against the CJ, Sangeet said then-top judge Richard Malanjum had failed to defend and preserve the integrity of the judiciary.

Her legal challenge came after lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla claimed last year that the outcome of Karpal’s sedition appeal in the Court of Appeal had been altered due to judicial interference.

Haniff claimed he was informed that a senior judge, who has since retired, reportedly meddled in the majority decision on Karpal’s appeal.

Judges Mohtarudin Baki and Kamardin Hashim were in the majority to retain the conviction by the High Court while Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, the present chief justice, dissented.

Sangeet subsequently lodged a police report triggering an investigation that has yet to be concluded.

However, on May 29, a five-member Federal Court bench allowed an appeal brought by Karpal’s widow, Gurmeet Kaur, thereby also upholding Tengku Maimun’s findings.

Karpal died in a road accident on April 17, 2014.

Hamid, who affirmed his affidavit on Feb 14, alleged that senior judges had intervened in the decisions of numerous appeals, including Karpal’s sedition appeal.

Sangeet said she would be writing to newly appointed Court of Appeal president Rohana Yusof to initiate an inquiry into Hamid’s allegations.

“I will be writing to Rohana before the year ends because the alleged interference in Karpal’s case took place in the Court of Appeal. She can conduct the inquiry because she is not in a position of conflict,” Sangeet said.

Sangeet said she first wrote to Malanjum last year and to Tengku Maimun this year but both replied that the matter was still under police investigation.

“Tengku Maimun also replied that she could not initiate an inquiry because she is conflicted as she was part of the Court of Appeal bench that heard Karpal’s appeal in 2016,” she said.

Sangeet said she did not want Rohana’s predecessor, Ahmad Maarop, to investigate Hamid’s claim as he (Ahmad) too had been in a position of conflict. - FMT