MP SPEAKS | Court of Appeal judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer’s affidavit in support of the application of lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo’s application in the High Court, Kuala Lumpur against the chief justice seeking, inter alia, various prayers in respect of the sedition case of the late Karpal Singh, if true, speaks volumes of the state of the judiciary today.
The veracity of the contents of the said affidavit cannot be ignored and must be investigated.
Chief Justice Richard Malanjum, as head of the judiciary, has the opportunity now to take the initial steps of cleaning up the judiciary if Hamid’s allegations are proven to be true.
Allegations of judicial interference in the cases of Karpal, Anwar Ibrahim and others, if true, must be dealt with seriously and the culprits severely punished.
If Hamid’s allegations are true, Karpal ought not to have died a convicted man.
Karpal’s appeal in respect of his said conviction to the Federal Court is scheduled to be heard on March 27 before a seven-man bench.
Why should that appeal even arise if Karpal was, in fact, meant to have been acquitted by the Court of Appeal according to Hamid?
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It is utterly disgraceful for those implicated in Hamid’s affidavit (assuming his allegations are true) to have anything to do with the bench and Malanjum cannot remain silent in the face of such allegations.
Many have rightly called for the setting up of a royal commission of inquiry into the matter.
The prime minister must heed these calls and set up such an RCI forthwith as the image and integrity of the entire judiciary is at stake.
Judges are not gods.
They are officers of the court bound by the strictest of ethical codes and must understand that if they breach such codes, they will be disciplined most severely.
I am sure it was not easy for Hamid to have done what he did. He must be commended for his courage in doing so.
The ball is now in Malanjum’s court.
RAMKARPAL SINGH is member of Parliament for Bukit Gelugor and son of the late parliamentarian and opposition figure Karpal Singh.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
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