WE are highly disappointed at the utterly disparate manner in which justice was dispensed to Covid-19 MCO violators.

A single mother was sentenced to jail when others who committed similar violations were given a RM1,000 fine. While in prison she was reportedly mocked by other prisoners who were serving lesser sentences for more serious crimes committed – reflecting the obvious absurdity of the situation.

VIPs were given a slightly different treatment. Their misdemeanors were initially left to fall between the cracks by the authorities until their violations were highlighted on social media.

Unlike ordinary people in the streets, our enforcement authorities take extra care to carry out thorough investigations. Procedures must be followed and the violators must be called to give their statements before they could be charged. They would then be allowed bail to ensure their court appearance.

However, if you are an old pensioner, but due to the management deficiency of the court administrative system, and you cannot pay your fine on time you must spend time in jail. Discretion is simply not possible.

If you are a family member of a VIP, you will be placed on the higher rung of the special treatment ladder by the court. Your case will be heard in an empty court with no audience (obviously due the MCO) and no reporters in the gallery.

To justify that, the court would conveniently claim ignorance of the presence of the reporters and the trial would swiftly proceed. The public would only know the outcome of the trial. A guilty verdict and a reduced fine – in relation to the amount paid by other offenders, would be the only announcement made. What were the mitigating factors that led to such reduction in the fines?

Without a trial that was open to the public and the media, nobody would be able to know the real Reason. In a governmental system where transparency is as rare as the hen’s tooth, speculations were rife.

None of these speculations reflect positively on the system. They were in effect a collective vote of no-confidence on the manner justice is exercised in this country in particular and the credibility of the civil service in general. A big disappointment indeed.

As if the feeling of despair and sense of betrayal over the emergence of a back-door government and the inconvenience and uncertainty created by Covid-19 pandemic are not enough, the people are now confronted with another disconcerting phenomena which cast a serious doubt over the sanctity and integrity of the judicial institution.

Please do not take all these criticisms as an affront to the judiciary, as acts of contempt to the court. In the past, members of the public, lawyers and even judges themselves have voiced out their concern and apprehension over the independence and integrity of our judicial system.

Almost in all countries, regardless of their political system, the position of the judiciary would invariably be at the apex of their governmental structure. It serves as the beacon of justice, as an institution that is independent, driven by integrity and beyond reproach.

This is not just a theory but a practical reality which could only be realised by unquestionable acceptance of its institutional integrity and credibility by the people.

Public criticisms of the judiciary are not the real act of contempt. The real act of contempt is committed by the very people who run the system. By what is perceived as their apparent lack of professional competence, they have exposed the system to criticism and derision, eroding the sanctity, dignity and the respect that they should and rightfully deserve. – May 8, 2020.

* Ahmad Ghazali bin Abu Hassan reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.