FOLLOWING the death of Gopal Sri Ram yesterday, former attorney-general Tommy Thomas will appoint a new lead counsel for his ongoing suit against the special task force and the government over the investigation into his memoir, “My Story: Justice in the Wilderness”. 

Thomas filed the originating summons on October 27 last year, seeking a declaration that the report on the investigation is an illegal document and a violation of the law. 

Senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan said lawyers representing Thomas had applied for a month to appoint a new lead counsel.  

He added that the court had fixed February 27 for case management pending the appointment, after online proceedings before Judge Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh today.  

In his suit, Thomas named Fong Joo Chung, the chairman of the task force that investigated the contents of the book, seven other task force members, and the government as defendants. 

Besides Fong, the members of the task force were Panglima Hashim Paijan, Dr Junaidah Kamaruddin, Jagjit Singh Bant Singh, Shaharudin Ali, K. Balaguru, Farah Adura Hamidi, and Mohd Najib Surip. 

In the originating summons, Thomas claimed that the publication of the report violates Sections 499 and 500 of the Penal Code and/or Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. 

He is seeking a declaration that the publication of the said report violates his right to reputation, which he said is protected by Articles 5(1) and/or 13(1) of the Federal Constitution. 

The memoir, published in January 2021, caused a public uproar resulting in the cabinet setting up a special task force as a fact-finding body to undertake an in-depth review and analysis of the book. 

On October 13, the government declassified the task force’s report, which among other things, recommended that Thomas be investigated for various possible offences. – Bernama, January 30, 2023.