FORMER chairman of the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC), Dr Sundra Rajoo, has lodged a police report against a sitting judge’s claims that implicate him in allegations of judicial misconduct.

Sundra lodged the report at the Sentul police station today, his lawyer Baljit Singh Sidhu told The Star.

His report was against an affidavit by Court of Appeal judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer, who has alleged judicial bias and judicial collusion with private parties to defraud government funds.

Baljit said Sundra was not named in Hamid’s affidavit, but was “the one implicated”.

Sundra was arrested in November last year over allegations that he had used government funds to induce ministers to extend his contract with the AIAC, which he had led for nine years.

He has not been charged.

After his arrest, he resigned from his post at AIAC and also from the world football body, Fifa, as  deputy chairman of its ethics committee.

Hamid had filed a 65-page affidavit in support of an originating summons filed by lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo.

Sangeet is seeking a declaration that the chief justice had failed to intervene in two cases of judicial interference, including the sedition case of her father, the late Karpal Singh.

Among Hamid’s claims in his affidavit were that top judges had ensured that certain decisions were made in accordance with Putrajaya’s wishes, and that judges had colluded with private parties involved in government contracts to ensure they were not delivered in order to obtain hefty compensation.

The cabinet in response, has agreed to call to set up a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to look into the claims of judicial misconduct, although the terms of reference have not been announced. – February 22, 2019.