Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the federal government have insisted that their action in terminating the contract of Mohamed Apandi Ali as attorney-general (AG) in 2018 was valid as well as in accordance with the provisions of the law and requested the court to dismiss Apandi’s suit against them.
In a statement of defence filed yesterday (Nov 12), both the defendants stated that there was no abuse of power by the first defendant, Mahathir, regarding the termination of Apandi as AG and the termination of his contract as a legal officer.
Mahathir and the federal government filed the statement of defence, which was signed by the senior federal counsel from the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC), in response to an RM2.2 million suit filed against them by Apandi.
The defendants said that the claim by Mohamed Apandi, the plaintiff, was without merit and a misrepresentation of the law.
“Furthermore, there is nothing in the plaintiff’s pleading that constitutes the latter being given exemplary and/or punitive damages,” the defendants said.
Mahathir and the federal government also denied every statement contained in the plaintiff’s statement of claim, saying that in any case, the plaintiff was not entitled to the reliefs applied for.
“We humbly ask that the plaintiff’s claims be dismissed with costs,” they said.
The case was brought up for online case management before High Court deputy registrar Norhatini Abd Hamid today.
Lawyer Baljit Singh Sidhu, representing Apandi, when contacted said that the court had set Dec 3 for case management for the plaintiff to file an answer to the defendants’ statement of defence.
On Oct 13, Apandi filed a lawsuit naming Mahathir and the government, as the first and second defendants respectively, seeking among others for a declaration that his termination from his position as AG two years ago was unlawful.
- Bernama
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