Ex-judge: Nazlan’s case should have been sent to judicial ethics committee

MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki should have referred the complaint against Court of Appeal judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali to the judicial ethics committee chaired by the chief justice, said former appellate judge Mah Weng Kwai.

He said this is important as Nazlan is a sitting judge.

“The committee was set up in 2009 under Article 125 of the Federal Constitution to look into any allegations against a sitting judge.

“This is to protect the integrity of the judiciary as the allegation is very serious,” he told reporters after his keynote address to some 70 corporate participants at a conference on ‘Supply Chain Governance in the Era of Globalisation’ in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

The conference was jointly organised by the Coalition for Business Integrity, the Malaysian International Chamber Of Commerce & Industry, the Malaysian Dutch Business Council, the Malaysian-Canada Business Council and the Malaysia-German Chamber of Commerce.

‘Inform public on outcome’

The retired Court of Appeal judge also commented on the manner in which Azam had announced the investigations into the allegations made by a blogger when he spoke on the principle of separation of powers.

Mah also urged Azam to inform the public of the outcome of the investigations as soon as possible, especially since this has become a case of public interest.

Describing Nazlan as a man of integrity, Mah said that Nazlan had also lodged a police report against the person making the allegation.

“Why is there no update on the investigations into Nazlan’s report, if any?” Mah asked.

Mah said it was not difficult for the MACC to obtain Nazlan’s bank statements.

“The three police reports were made in March and April. It’s already mid-May, and the public is still not informed whether there was any such money in Nazlan’s bank account, as alleged,” he said.

Nazlan, who heard and convicted former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak concerning charges of misappropriation of SRC International Sdn Bhd funds, had lodged a police report over a posting by Malaysia Today author Raja Petra Kamarudin alleging that he had unexplained wealth.

A statement released by the Federal Court chief registrar's office on April 21 said Nazlan denied the false, baseless and malicious allegations aimed at undermining his credibility as a judge and disrupting the administration of criminal justice and the judiciary. - Mkini