THE Malaysian Bar has “categorically refuted” it had not spoken up on allegations of judicial interference made by Court of Appeal judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer.

 It repeated its call for the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry “at once” to look into the claims, and for the scope of the RCI to cover all the new allegations.

Bar president George Varughese was responding to claims made by lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo that the legal body was silent on the issue despite receiving a copy of the court papers of her suit against the judiciary.

Sangeet is the daughter of the late DAP parliamentarian and prominent lawyer Karpal Singh. She filed a suit last month against the chief justice, claiming he failed to protect the judiciary’s integrity when it ruled against her father in a sedition case.

On Thursday, Hamid issued a 63-page affidavit in support of that suit.

Varughese said the Bar on August 20 had called for an RCI soon after Hamid’s initial revelation that he had been severely reprimanded by a “top judge” for his dissenting judgment in the Indira Gandhi case at the Court of Appeal.

“In that statement, we called for the immediate setting up of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to investigate these serious assertions of judicial misconduct, as well as recommend holistic reforms to improve and strengthen the Judiciary,” Varughese said.

He said the Bar’s call did not end there, as on November 29 it made another call for an RCI, and again on January 18 at the opening of the Legal Year of the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak in Kota Kinabalu.

The civil society group, Lawyers for Liberty said it had “collected a range of evidence of interference with subordinate court judges in politically sensitive matters”.

“All these severe allegations of a total collapse of integrity on the part of certain judges are eroding public confidence in the judiciary immensely, and perhaps irreparably.

“In light of the inconclusive findings of the judiciary’s internal investigations into the allegations made by Justice Hamid Sultan, due reportedly to the retirement of the judge concerned and other constraints, and the absence of information in respect of any investigation of judicial interference in the appeal in the sedition case of Karpal Singh, the urgency for a thorough investigation by an RCI is greater than ever before,” Varughese said.

“The Malaysian Bar has all along taken a consistently firm and unwavering stand in demanding that the independence of the judiciary be fervently safeguarded.

“The proper administration of justice can only rest upon a judiciary whose independence is absolute and unimpeachable, and upon individual judges whose integrity and impartiality are faultless and unassailable.”

On Sangeet’s legal fight against the Chief Justice, Varughese said the Bar is considering “the proper role for the Malaysian Bar to play in the upcoming legal proceedings”.

“We will, without any doubt, continue to speak up over any compromise — including allegations thereof — within the institution of the judiciary, without fear or favour.

“We will never be silent in the face of any unethical or unlawful practices toward or by members of the judiciary.” – February 17, 2019.