THE Kuala Lumpur High Court has ordered Chief Justice Richard Malanjum to file an affidavit-in-reply to a legal challenge by Karpal Singh’s daughter that he did not act on two complaints involving the judiciary.

Justice Mohd Firuz Jaffril ordered the Attorney-General’s Chambers, which represented Malanjum, to file the reply by February 11, which has also been fixed for case mention.

Karpal’s daughter, Sangeet Kaur Deo, later told reporters outside the courtroom that she is concerned with conflict of interest in the case as the A-GC previously looked into her police report late last year on the alleged judicial interference in a sedition appeal by her late father.

“I am a complainant in the police report for my father’s sedition case, and I am not sure whether I am going to get a fair trial,” she said.

The case, filed on Monday by Sangeet, concerns allegations raised by lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdulla, who said in a Facebook post on August 22 last year that the outcome of Karpal’s sedition appeal two years ago was altered due to judicial interference by a senior judge.

Karpal died in a road accident on April 17, 2014.

He had been charged with sedition for saying the removal of Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin as menteri besar by the late Perak sultan, Sultan Azlan Shah, and the appointment of Zambry Abdul Kadir in his place, could be questioned in court.

On February 21, 2014, the high court found Karpal guilty. On May 30, 2016, his conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeal.

Sangeet also filed an originating summons in relation to allegations by former Court of Appeal judge Hamid Sultan Abu Baker on August 16 last year that he was reprimanded by a top judge for delivering a dissenting judgment in a unilateral Muslim conversion case in 2016. 

Hamid, who spoke at the 2018 International Malaysia Law Conference, said he was barred from hearing cases related to the federal constitution and public interest matters.

In her affidavit, Sangeet said she filed the originating summons “in light of his (Malanjum’s) failure thus far to investigate and complete investigations relating to two very serious allegations of judicial interference within the Malaysian judiciary”.

“It is hoped that the Malaysian Bar will also take a stand in this matter as such serious allegations attack the integrity and credibility of the Malaysian judiciary,” she added. – January 17, 2019.