Raja Petra’s plea allowed, court holds to quorum rule
(NST) PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court yesterday set aside its earlier decision in the case of Raja Petra Kamarudin because it was heard by a two-member panel.
Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum ruled there was a "quorum failure" and this was "an appropriate case for the exercise of the inherent power of this court" to set aside the earlier finding made by Tan Sri Nik Hashim Nik Abdul Rahman and Datuk Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin after Datuk Seri S. Augustine Paul recused himself.
Malanjum also set aside the dismissal of three applications by Nik Hashim and Zulkefli together with Paul, who subsequently joined the bench.
Yesterday's decision was related to the appeal by the Home Ministry against the release of Raja Petra from detention under the Internal Security Act.
The decision to dismiss Raja Petra's application to disqualify Paul was made by a two-member panel on Feb 17.
Initially, Paul, Nik Hashim and Zulkefli were supposed to hear the appeal by the ministry but before hearing began, Raja Petra, through his counsel Malik Imtiaz Sarwar and Azhar Azizan Harun, applied to recuse Paul on the grounds that he (Raja Petra) had made certain remarks in his website about Paul as the High Court judge in Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's corruption trial in 1998.
Raja Petra also claimed that Paul had said in a judgment in 2001 that he (Raja Petra) was a threat to national security.
Raja Petra's application to recuse Paul was dismissed by Nik Hashim and Zulkefli on the grounds that there was no merit. They had then invited Paul to sit with them on the bench to hear Raja Petra's other applications pertaining to the appeal.
The other applications were:
– To increase the existing three-man panel to five or seven on grounds that complex and constitutional issues which have far-reaching consequences would be argued;
– To adduce fresh evidence in the Federal Court to show he was not a threat to national security after the High Court in Shah Alam allowed his habeas corpus application on Nov 7 last year; and
– To introduce the notes of evidence in his ongoing sedition trial at the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court that prosecution witness Superintendent Gan Tack Guan admitted that he did not investigate the truth of the article Let's send Altantuya murderers to hell, which was posted on the blogger's website.
All the three applications, however, were later dismissed.
Malik Imtiaz had then filed a review application on Feb 18 against the decisions of the Federal Court.
Malanjum said that a new date for rehearing of the application would be fixed later.
Deputy public prosecutor Tun Majid Tun Hamzah appeared for the home minister.
