KUALA LUMPUR: Najib Razak’s lawyer has taken the Malaysian Bar to task over the former prime minister’s SRC International case.
Shafee Abdullah said he found it “strange” that the Bar regarded the judiciary as not robust enough to withstand criticism.
“Surely you must allow the judiciary to be a lot more robust and subject to criticism within the bounds of proprietary and contempt of court,” he said at a forum organised by the Bar here today.
Speaking during the question and answer session, Shafee posed a series of questions to the panellists regarding Court of Appeal judge Nazlan Ghazali’s alleged conflict of interest when presiding over Najib’s SRC case in the High Court.
Shafee said the Malaysian-Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) was only following procedures when it probed Nazlan.
“They (MACC) took the initiative to report to the chief justice, which is provided by law. It is up to the chief justice to take it and throw it in the dustbin or act upon it,” he said at the forum titled “Public Forum on MACC, the Ex-PM and the Independence of the Judiciary”.
On Feb 23, law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said revealed that MACC’s report pertaining to its probe on Nazlan had been submitted to Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat.
In a letter to Najib’s solicitors, Shafee & Co, on April 6, Azalina confirmed MACC’s probe on Nazlan concluded he had violated the Judges’ Code of Ethics and had a conflict of interest when presiding over the SRC case.
She said this was based on a report dated Feb 20 containing MACC’s findings which was extended to her, adding that MACC had found “issues of wrongdoing” by Nazlan that the chief justice “needed to consider”.
On Feb 24, a seven-member Federal Court panel led by Tengku Maimun ruled that MACC had not followed protocol when conducting its investigations into Nazlan.
The apex court said investigating bodies like MACC must consult the chief justice before initiating an investigation against judges. Its failure to do so showed there was “a lack of bona fide on their part”.
Responding to Shafee, lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdulla claimed there were certain parties attempting to sensationalise Nazlan’s alleged conflict of interest in the SRC case to cast doubt on the verdict.
He said it was crucial to prevent politicians and any other parties from sensationalising court cases.
The forum’s other panellists included Bar president Karen Cheah, Bar council constitutional law committee co-chair Andrew Khoo and legal scholar Shad Saleem Faruqi. - FMT
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