LAWYER Arunachalam Kasi has filed a motion to set aside contempt proceedings by Attorney-General Tommy Thomas over comments relating to an explosive affidavit filed by a sitting Court of Appeal judge.

S. Chandran, who represents Arunachalam, also known as Arun Kasi, said a motion was filed yesterday to set aside the leave granted by the Federal Court on February 27, which allowed Thomas to initiate contempt proceedings. 

“This motion has been fixed for hearing before the Federal Court on March 13,” Chandran said in a statement today. 

A number of constitutional questions have been raised in the motion, he said. 

They include questions as to freedom of speech in Article 10(1)(a) of the constitution and limitations to it in Article 10(2)(a), the scope of contempt in Article 126, the limits of the A-G’s powers  in Article 145, and impacts of doctrine of separation of powers.

“This will be a landmark case of high constitutional importance in this area of law, that is attracting attention not only among lawyers … locally but also internationally,” Chandran said. 

On February 27, justice Ramly Ali, who chaired a three-man bench, allowed Thomas to go ahead with the proceedings against Arunachalam Kasi, who, in two articles published on the Aliran online portal, criticised an affidavit of Court of Appeal judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer on alleged judicial misconduct.

The court had fixed March 13 for a substantive inter-partes hearing for both parties to submit.

Arun told The Malaysian Insight he was only making “fair criticism” about the manner in which the Federal Court reached its decision in a particular case mentioned by Hamid in an affidavit.

“I think every lawyer has to make a stand that way, and I will continue to make a stand, without fear or favour. I will face the challenges,” he said. 

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

The cabinet has agreed to set up a royal commission of inquiry to look into the allegations. – March 8, 2019.