AG's Elegant Silence on Alleged Corruption in Judiciary

Former chief judge of Malaya, Anuar Zainal Abidin, who was once the judiciary’s No 3, had recently raised concerns about the Islamisation of the Civil Courts. He has also joined Syed Ahmad and former Court of Appeal judge Shaik Daud Ismail in calling for the reopening of the investigation into allegations of corruption within the judiciary.

former judge Anuar Zainal Abidin - Malaysiakini photo

The allegation was made by former High Court judge Syed Ahmad Idid a decade ago.

Anuar, the most senior of the three ex-judges, said the 1996 investigation by then attorney-general, the late Mohtar Abdullah, into Syed Ahmad’s report was incomplete. Detractors of the accusation had termed Syed Ahmad’s report as a poison-pen letter.

Anuar said the authorities could not have possibly finished their investigation within a month. The report had 33 pages of allegations, which included allegations against 12 judges involving 39 cases of corruption, 21 cases of abuse of power, 52 cases of misconduct, immorality and other indiscretions.

He said: “Do you think that the authorities can finish all the allegations with so many personalities and allegations within a month or so. Commonsense tells me that something is incomplete.”

Some people can ;-) don't forget we're in BolehLand, where some people can even pay more to abandon a bridge project than to continue building it.

Although Anuar was the chief judge of Malaya, responsible for all High Court judges in Peninsular Malaysia, he was never consulted by his superiors regarding the allegations of corruption.

He smiled and joked: “I was not in the good books, you know” which sort of raises him higher in my eyes.

He also shot down Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim’s proposal to resolve the Syed Ahmad’s report through internal investigation within the judiciary. The current chief justice had stated that his own probe showed the allegations against the said judges were baseless - if so, why then suggest an 'internal' investigation?

Anuar dismissed Ahmad Fairuz suggestion, stating: “It is not the judiciary’s function to investigate.”

Isn’t it surprising (or should it be) that only a former judge, of the old school, can pinpoint succinctly the limitations of the judiciary’s role.

Anuar also commented on the AG’s deafening silence on re-opening the case. He said the only person who can decide to open or close a case is the AG. No one else can do that, not the minister nor the chief justice.

He urged the AG to re-open the investigation into the allegations, stating that there is nothing in law that prevents the re-opening of an investigation.

Elegant silence?