The Court of Appeal will hear the appeal against a High Court judgment upholding the seizure and banning of Kim Quek’s book ‘The March to Putrajaya’ at 9am on March 17, Monday, at Court No 2, Second Floor, Palace of Justice, Putrajaya.

On Aug 19, 2010, the police swooped on bookshops across the country to confiscate my said book, which is a collection of my articles on current politics written over the period from 2005 to 2010. A month later, then-home minister Hishammuddin Hussein signed an order to ban the book on the grounds of it being “prejudicial to public order” and had the order gazetted on Sept 27, 2010.

I subsequently applied to the High Court for a judicial review of the minister’s action through my lawyers Kanesalingam and Co.

In his defence, the minister accused me of having made unfounded criticism to defame the government. Saying that my articles are seditious, the minister further claimed that I have through my untruthful writings vilified the institutions and the incumbent political leadership, in addition to having created racial animosity and incited hatred against the government.

In my reply through my affidavit, I made a point-by-point rebuttal to the minister’s allegations. And through more than 500 pages of background documents of news reports and analysis attached to the affidavit, I demonstrated that my articles are fact-based and my analysis rational and honest.  

I also quoted extensively from my articles to illustrate that, contrary to the minister’s accusations, I have consistently urged adherence to the constitution and rule of law, promoted racial and religious harmony, and made constructive criticism with a view to improve governance.

Regrettably, the judge in her judgment made no reference whatsoever to my lengthy and vigorous submissions, and simply ruled that the minister’s action was justified on the grounds that the latter had “sufficient materials” to base his decision.

As for the seizure of books, the judge ruled that such seizure was for “investigation” purposes, and hence not subject to judicial review, despite my lawyers having clearly explained that confiscating books before they are banned is an illegal act.

In light of the recent spate of naked political partisanship in contempt of constitution and law displayed by the judiciary, the coming hearing of this case in the Court of Appeal, which is obviously political in nature, will again put our judiciary to the test, as to whether there are remnants among the higher hierarchy of the judiciary who still remain faithful to their oath to uphold and defend the constitution.

KIM QUEK is a retired accountant and author of the banned book ‘The March to Putrajaya’.