Senior Federal Counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambali, who acted on behalf of the AGC, told reporters that the objection was made as the application was premature and an abuse of the court’s process.
“We submitted that the committee has not made any final decision against Hamid Sultan and the application made by him is premature as the applicant has not been found breaching the Ethics Code,” he said.
Ahmad Hanir said this when met after the hearing for leave for a judicial review before High Court Judge Datuk Seri Mariana Yahya in chambers yesterday, which was also attended by Hamid Sultan’s counsels, Datuk Bastian Vandargon and Datuk Joy Wilson Appukuttan.
Meanwhile, Bastian said the JEC had exceeded its power and breached the principle of natural justice when it decided to call for the inquiry against Hamid Sultan.
“Judicial review leave application can still be granted by this court even if the JEC has not issued any final decision against Hamid Sultan.
“After hearing the submissions by both parties, the court then fixed Jan 21 next year for a decision on the judicial review application,” he said.
Appukuttan added that Hamid Sultan’s application for an interim stay of the JEC inquiry proceedings has been extended until the decision on the leave of judicial review application.
On Oct 20, Hamid Sultan, as the applicant, filed the application for leave of a judicial review through Messrs KH Lim & Co in the High Court here, naming the chairman of the JEC and the JEC as the first and second respondents respectively.
He is seeking a certiorari order to quash the decision of the respondents stated in the first respondent’s letter dated Sept 28 and Sept 29, as well to declare the decision as invalid and void, in violation of Articles 5 and 8 of the Federal Constitution.
He is also seeking a declaration that the composition of the seven members of the committee to listen to and deliberate the complaints made against him as violating legal procedures and regulations.
The judge also sought a declaration that the first respondent, as the chairman of the committee, was not eligible to hear or deliberate the complaints raised in the first respondent’s notice dated Aug 10. Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat is the chairman of the JEC at present.
Hamid Sultan, through his affidavit of support filed with the judicial review, said the application was made to protest the decision of the JEC not to allow his request for the proceedings to be heard in an open forum.
He said the application was filed based on the decision of the first respondent to investigate two complaints that had been raised against him by other judges involving his judgment as the Court of Appeal Judge in the Public Prosecutor’s case against Aluma Mark Chinonso & Anor, and the affidavit he affirmed in support of an originating summons filed by lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo, who sought several declarations with respect to court decisions made in her late father Karpal Singh’s appeals.
According to Hamid Sultan, investigations into misconduct involving judges cannot be conducted in camera.
“This is contrary to the principles of judicial independence, especially when I stated that I do not want proceedings against me to be conducted in private, and have instead opted for an open hearing. I was also placed in a very embarrassing position and was ridiculed not only by my fellow learned judges but also by the general public,” he said in his affidavit. — Bernama
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