Bail counter early closure smacks of arrogance

The late Justice NH Chan’s notation in the case of Ayer Molek Rubber Co Bhd vs Insas Bhd is a constant reminder of the tumultuous days of the judiciary in the mid-1990s.

“All is not well in the House of Denmark,” he remarked in a damning indictment of the Court of Appeal, which was then housed in Wisma Denmark along Jalan Ampang in Kuala Lumpur.

These courageous words were expunged and the then chief justice, sitting in the Federal Court, Eusoff Chin, asked, “Why should the learned judges of the Court of Appeal go on a frolic of their own and find fault with the High Court judge, criticise the conduct of the applicant’s solicitors in a very disparaging manner?”

That phrase from Shakespeare’s Hamlet may have been removed from the judgment and the official records but remains in perpetuity as a constant reminder of those dark days.

In the minds of many who yearned, campaigned, and succeeded to expose an unholy nexus between certain members of the Bar and the Bench, it is an era that should never be repeated – however hard the times are.

The bad old ways of shopping for judges and incidents of judges holidaying with lawyers have not emerged after that unbridled period except for occasional shades emerging, only for officialdom to white-wash them.

Last week, another ugly side of the court – nothing to do with the court of judges, but nevertheless supplementary to the administration of justice.

On Thursday (April 20), the liberty of six men sanctioned by the court found themselves incarcerated in remand in prison and will remain there until Tuesday morning when the system trickles to activity.

It was no fault of theirs. Someone decided that the bail counter at the Jalan Duta Court Complex will close just before 3pm despite a notice stating that office hours were until 4.30pm.

“The counter staff said that it was closed pursuant to a directive from the Kuala Lumpur court management,” Free Malaysia Today quoted the men’s lawyer Alvin Tan as saying.

Minister stating the obvious

The response, although not immediate, was telling indeed – an example of how the system works and a reflection of what governance is not all about.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said said the ministry’s legal affairs division was instructed to probe the matter.

If the allegations are proven to be true, Azalina said the matter must be reviewed and corrected to ensure administrative errors are not repeated.

But, as if to cushion the blow, she stated the obvious. The same news portal quoted her as saying: “The right to bail is a fundamental and constitutional human right that the government respects without question.

“Any act, including administrative issues, that interfere with this right is viewed as flouting this cardinal principle.”

The key phrases are “reviewed and corrected” and “not repeated”. Isn’t there something called reprimand and deterrence? Or was the announcement of the long holiday the antecedent to the events of Thursday afternoon?

Members of the administration seem to be a law unto themselves, They can do wrong and whatever they do must be deemed correct by the lesser mortal.

Just like local councils that seem to think their job is to punish the very people they are paid to represent. The irony is that they use the money from one group of people to fight another.

If a timetable or operating hours had been made public, an abrupt diversion or amendment without advance notice smacks of arrogance.

The Little Napoleons who occupy and walk the corridors of power in local authorities and in some licencing bodies are spreading their unwanted and unwelcome flair.

Unfortunately, this has reached the doors of the judiciary where one should be able to turn to when everything else fails. - Mkini

---

R NADESWARAN is a veteran journalist who writes on bread-and-butter issues. Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.