FORMER Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC) director N. Sundra Rajoo said he would refrain from making any statements on a chapter on AIAC in former attorney-general Tommy Thomas’ memoir as a related matter is ongoing in courts. 

“In that chapter, he has made serious allegations against me, which are untrue and defamatory.  

“They are also contemptuous of the ongoing judicial review proceedings,” he said in a statement.

Sundra Rajoo said the accusations against him were completely untrue, and he reserved the right to take action at an appropriate juncture. 

“As such, for now, I will not make any comments on the chapter, which are sub judice.” 

He said he has been granted leave to appeal to the Federal Court, and his appeal is fixed to be heard before an enlarged seven-judge panel on April 30.

Last December the Federal Court granted leave to Sundra Rajoo for the apex forum to decide on the immunity from criminal charges levelled against him previously. 

Yesterday Sundra Rajoo’s lawyer Baljit Singh Sidhu accused Thomas of sub judice and defamation over the remarks about Sundra Rajoo and AIAC in his book. 

Referring to the chapter on AIAC in Thomas’ memoir, Baljit said the litigator got his facts wrong on the judicial review matter involving his client.

“The fact is, the judicial review was filed first in court before the charges were filed against my client as opposed to what was stated in his book. 

“Most important is that this review is still pending in the Federal Court, and (for Thomas) to come out and say all these, it is sub judice and defamatory,” the lawyer said. 

Sundra Rajoo previously came under scrutiny after the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission raided his office in 2018, on suspicion of using government funds to obtain favours from past and present ministers to extend his contract.

Thomas is also being investigated for criminal defamation following a report lodged by a former senior federal counsel on comments made in the book My Story: Justice in the Wilderness.

“We will call him (Thomas) in to record his statement at the earliest possible time to assist ongoing investigations,” Selangor Criminal Investigations Department chief Fadzil Ahmat said. 

On July 25 last year, the Court of Appeal overturned a high court ruling that Sundra Rajoo is entitled to immunity from prosecution for acts committed while in office.

A three-member panel led by justice Hanipah Farikullah held that the proper forum to determine Sundra Rajoo’s immunity is the criminal court, and not the civil court.

She said the remedy on whether he is immune from prosecution should be tested in the criminal court after evidence has been presented by the prosecution. 

Sundra Rajoo was the head of the AIAC, formerly known as the Kuala Lumpur Centre for Regional Arbitration, since 2010 until 2018. 

In March 2019, he pleaded not guilty to three count of criminal breach of trust amounting to RM1 million. The offences were allegedly committed at the AIAC premises in Kuala Lumpur between August 17 and December 8, 2018. 

He then sought a declaration that he is entitled to immunity from prosecution for acts and omissions while in office. – February 3, 2021.