THE Kuala Lumpur High Court today allowed Dr Hamid Sultan Abu Backer’s application for an interim stay of the Judges’ Ethics Committee’s (JEC) inquiry proceedings against him, which was scheduled on November 25.

Judge Mariana Yahya, in her decision, said the status quo must be maintained until the hearing of the Court of Appeal judge’s challenge against the JEC’s decision to hold investigative in-camera proceedings against him.

“To avoid any injustice, it is the opinion of the court the status quo shall be maintained temporarily until the hearing of the leave application. The court allows the interim stay until the date of the hearing of leave only, which has been fixed for December 21 at 10am,” she said in her ruling via email.

Hamid Sultan, 65, had filed a suit to challenge the decision of the JEC to hold the investigative proceedings against him in-camera.

Hamid Sultan’s counsel, Joy Wilson Appukuttan, when contacted, said Mariana made the decision during proceedings held via email, which also involved senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambali, who acted for chairman of the JEC and the JEC.

Appukuttan said during online proceedings the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) had opposed to the interim stay application.

He also said the application for leave for judicial review was supposed to be heard today but, due to the extension of the conditional movement-control order (CMCO), the hearing was postponed to December 21.

He added that the interim stay of the JEC inquiry was filed after his client received a letter dated November 6 from JEC chairman, stating that the inquiry against Hamid Sultan convene on November 25 at 3pm.

“We have through our letter dated November 10 to the chairman requested confirmation whether the inquiry will be adjourned in light of the extended CMCO, but we have not got a reply as yet,” he said.

On October 20, Hamid Sultan, filed the challenge through Messrs KH Lim & Co in the high court, naming the chairman and the JEC as the first and second respondents.

He is seeking a certiorari order to quash the decision of the respondents stated in the first respondent’s letter dated September 28 and 29, as well to declare the decision as invalid and void, in violation of Articles 5 and 8 of the federal constitution.

He is also seeking a declaration the seven-member composition of the committee to listen to and deliberate on the complaints made against him as violating legal procedures and regulations.

The judge also sought a declaration that the first respondent, as committee chairman, was not eligible to hear or deliberate on the complaints raised in the first respondent’s notice dated August 10. 

Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat is the chairman of the JEC at present.

Hamid Sultan, in his supporting affidavit accompanying the judicial review, said the application was made to protest against the decision of the JEC not to allow his request for the proceedings to be heard in an open forum.

He said the application was filed based on the decision of the first respondent to investigate two complaints raised against him by other judges involving his judgment as the Court of Appeal judge in the public prosecutor’s case against Aluma Mark Chinonso & Anor, and the affidavit he affirmed in support of an originating summons filed by lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo, who sought several declarations with respect to court decisions made in her late father Karpal Singh’s appeals.

According to Hamid Sultan, investigations into misconduct involving judges cannot be conducted in private.

“This is contrary to the principles of judicial independence, especially when I stated I do not want proceedings against me to be conducted in private, and have instead opted for an open hearing. 

“I was also placed in a very embarrassing position and was ridiculed not only by my fellow learned judges but also by the general public,” he said in his affidavit. – Bernama, November 12, 2020.