Internal investigation into judicial interference halted due to police probe, says CJ
THE STAR
Friday, 03 Jan 20207:31 PM MYT
By NURBAITI HAMDAN
PUTRAJAYA: An internal investigation by the judiciary into an explosive affidavit by a Court of Appeal judge, which claimed judicial interference was halted due to the police conducting its own investigation, says the Chief Justice.
Tan Sri Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat said the police had interviewed members of the judiciary on the matter.
"The position taken by the top management then (led by former chief justice Tan Sri Richard Malanjum) was to hold on with the internal investigation because the police were doing their investigation. That much I can say," she said.
Tengku Maimun said the judiciary did not have knowledge of the outcome of the police investigation and if the investigation papers were ever submitted to the Attorney General's Chambers.
The top judge said when hosting the press at her office here on Friday (Jan 3), said she had written to lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo - the daughter of the late DAP stalwart Karpal Singh - that she could not continue the investigation as she had a conflict of interest.
"I was one of the judges who sat on the panel which heard Karpal's appeal. She (Sangeet) understood that," Tengku Maimun added.
Sangeet had filed an originating summons against Malanjum in January last year claiming that the former chief justice had failed to defend the integrity of the judiciary in two cases.
This was in connection with alleged interference by the judiciary in the outcome of her father's sedition case relating to the Perak constitutional crisis and on the religious conversion of three Hindu children.
The following month, Court of Appeal judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer filed the 65-page affidavit supporting Sangeet's lawsuit.
In the viral affidavit, he claimed to have direct knowledge of judicial and constitutional misconduct in the judiciary.
After Tengku Maimun was elevated as the first female Chief Justice in May the same year, she invited the public to write to her if they know of any judicial misconduct and not use improper channels such as social media to voice their complaints.
Alluding to the affidavit by Hamid Sultan, she also said then that those who have information of judicial misconduct should lodge a report with the relevant authorities so that a proper investigation could be carried out.
When asked whether the public did write to her, Tengku Maimun said she received eight to 10 letters daily.
However, the letters were mostly about dissatisfaction with lost cases and hopes to reopen their cases, with some going back to decades-old judgments.
"The idea (behind the invitation) is that the public would be able to tell me instead of telling the whole world at some conference, so that I can make a formal report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission," she said.
Tengku Maimun said this was to avoid the judiciary from being tainted unnecessarily.
"Because when you tell the whole world, it won't just taint the judiciary - it would taint the country," she added.
Friday, 03 Jan 20207:31 PM MYT
By NURBAITI HAMDAN
PUTRAJAYA: An internal investigation by the judiciary into an explosive affidavit by a Court of Appeal judge, which claimed judicial interference was halted due to the police conducting its own investigation, says the Chief Justice.
Tan Sri Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat said the police had interviewed members of the judiciary on the matter.
"The position taken by the top management then (led by former chief justice Tan Sri Richard Malanjum) was to hold on with the internal investigation because the police were doing their investigation. That much I can say," she said.
Tengku Maimun said the judiciary did not have knowledge of the outcome of the police investigation and if the investigation papers were ever submitted to the Attorney General's Chambers.
The top judge said when hosting the press at her office here on Friday (Jan 3), said she had written to lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo - the daughter of the late DAP stalwart Karpal Singh - that she could not continue the investigation as she had a conflict of interest.
"I was one of the judges who sat on the panel which heard Karpal's appeal. She (Sangeet) understood that," Tengku Maimun added.
Sangeet had filed an originating summons against Malanjum in January last year claiming that the former chief justice had failed to defend the integrity of the judiciary in two cases.
This was in connection with alleged interference by the judiciary in the outcome of her father's sedition case relating to the Perak constitutional crisis and on the religious conversion of three Hindu children.
The following month, Court of Appeal judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer filed the 65-page affidavit supporting Sangeet's lawsuit.
In the viral affidavit, he claimed to have direct knowledge of judicial and constitutional misconduct in the judiciary.
After Tengku Maimun was elevated as the first female Chief Justice in May the same year, she invited the public to write to her if they know of any judicial misconduct and not use improper channels such as social media to voice their complaints.
Alluding to the affidavit by Hamid Sultan, she also said then that those who have information of judicial misconduct should lodge a report with the relevant authorities so that a proper investigation could be carried out.
When asked whether the public did write to her, Tengku Maimun said she received eight to 10 letters daily.
However, the letters were mostly about dissatisfaction with lost cases and hopes to reopen their cases, with some going back to decades-old judgments.
"The idea (behind the invitation) is that the public would be able to tell me instead of telling the whole world at some conference, so that I can make a formal report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission," she said.
Tengku Maimun said this was to avoid the judiciary from being tainted unnecessarily.
"Because when you tell the whole world, it won't just taint the judiciary - it would taint the country," she added.
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