THE Malaysian Judiciary is under attack from various people, both locals and those overseas.
Recently, we learned that Court of Appeal judge Datuk Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, who convicted former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case, is being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
This decision against Najib, did not go down well with certain people and thus, police reports were made alleging that there was unexplained amount of money found in Nazlan’s account.
Corruption is a serious allegation and it has far-reaching consequences on the state institutions, especially the judiciary.
Hence, before the investigation can commence, the MACC must reveal if they had verified the allegations in the report lodged against Nazlan and if there was primary and substantial evidence to proceed with an investigation.
I was delighted to hear the call from six former Bar Council chairpersons who urged the lawyers’ group to carry out a “walk for justice” in Putrajaya, in a bid to voice out against “intimidation” towards the judiciary.
In 2007, around 2,000 Bar members led by its then president Ambiga Sreenevasan walked from the Palace of Justice, Putrajaya, to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to urge the-then Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s Government to set up a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) into a judge-fixing scandal, in which an RCI was subsequently set up.
Last September, Pakatan Harapan (Pakatan) and Barisan Nasional (BN) inked an agreement, in which the primary purpose was to have political stability and ensure the “independence of the judicial institution”.
Since the attack on the judiciary clearly contravenes the MoU, I urge Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to convene the Parliament immediately to put this issue to rest.
Government MPs will have a chance to say that they will not tolerate any attempts to undermine our judiciary, as their absolute silence now show their insincerity towards the MoU.
Plus, an all-party resolution must be adopted to spell in clear terms concerns over the attack on the judiciary and uphold the separation of powers.
Article 127 of the Federal Constitution says the conduct of judges cannot be discussed in Parliament but via a substantive motion of not less than one quarter of the total members of the House, this issue can be debated and discussed. – May 5, 2022
M Kula Segaran is a former human resources minister and the MP for Ipoh Barat.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
