PUTRAJAYA: Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has filed an appeal over the High Court’s refusal to grant him leave for judicial review to recuse the chairman of the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) into Batu Puteh, and two other members.
The notice of appeal was filed this evening by Mahathir’s solicitors Messrs Law Practice of Rafique, two days before the 30-day deadline.
On June 12, Justice Amarjeet Singh refused Mahathir’s bid to recuse RCI chairman Raus Sharif, as well as Baljit Singh Sidhu and Ridha Abd Kadir, from the panel.
In also refusing Mahathir’s application for the RCI hearing to be made public, the judge said RCI proceedings were not amenable to judicial review by the courts.
On June 5, Mahathir, who was prime minister for the second time between May 2018 and February 2020, said Raus’s appointment was a gross violation of natural justice because he was an interested party.
Mahathir had filed a judicial review in 2017 to challenge the legality of Raus remaining chief justice until 2020, when he was appointed as an additional judge of the Federal Court after reaching the retirement age set out in the Federal Constitution.
He said Baljit and Ridha would have predetermined the issues as they were also members of a special task force set up in 2021 to scrutinise and give recommendations regarding Batu Puteh, including a review of laws.
On Feb 3, 2017, Putrajaya applied to review the 2008 International Court of Justice’s decision awarding Singapore sovereignty over Batu Puteh.
However, the Pakatan Harapan government under Mahathir withdrew the application before it came up for hearing on June 11, 2018.
On Feb 14 this year, Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim consented to Raus leading an RCI to look into why Malaysia had dropped its territorial claim to the island. - FMT
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