Karpal versus Zahid: Next round of that alleged assault case?
(TMI) – A new row is brewing between Karpal Singh (pic) and Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi over the assault suit filed against the latter by a businessman.
The suit, apparently settled in a mediation exercise last month, is expected to be on again after Home Minister Ahmad Zahid made public that the businessman, Amir Bazli Abdullah, had apologised to him.
“He has apologised to me during a meeting with a mediator and I forgave him,” Ahmad Zahid told The Malaysian Insider recently. “As far as I am concerned, the case is over and done with.”
Not to Karpal, Amir Bazli’s lawyer. Karpal charged that Ahmad Zahid breached the mediation order by making public what had transpired.
“As Amir Bazli’s lawyer, even I was not privy to what transpired in the mediation exercise. Even Amir Bazli was sworn to secrecy as that was the condition set by the mediator,” the veteran lawyer said.
“How then could Ahmad Zahid say that my client had apologised?”
Karpal said Ahmad Zahid is in serious contempt of court and that he is now considering further action against the home minister, including citing him for contempt.
On July 18, Ahmad Zahid and Amir Bazli met, minus their lawyers, in the presence of mediator Rohani Ismail, who is also a Sessions Court judge.
Datuk Shamsul Ibrahim, a member of Ahmad Zahid’s legal team, disclosed later that compensation was to be decided without the intervention of lawyers.
Amir Bazli also confirmed that the matter was settled amicably but was not in a position to comment by order of the mediator.
However, he said later that he felt intimidated by Ahmad Zahid who, he added, turned up with supporters, bodyguards and outriders.
