Ex-judge: Parliament should not discuss pending case

PETALING JAYA: Parliament should not discuss a case pending in court as it could be seen as an attempt to interfere with the judiciary, a former Court of Appeal judge said.

“This is because those who are discussing it will have opinions on the matter,” Shaik Daud Ismail told FMT. “By convention, pending cases should not be spoken about publicly as it may amount to contempt.”

However, he agreed that there were no laws in the country to prevent discussion of a pending case.

Shaik Daud was commenting on a decision by the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat, Pandikar Amin Mulia, that issues relating to the RM2.6 billion donation and SRC International could not be raised by MPs in the House, as it was sub judice.

Pandikar’s ruling came after the Bar Council filed an application for a judicial review of a decision by Attorney-General Apandi Ali not to prosecute Prime Minister Najib Razak over the controversy.

Constitutional law expert, Prof Abdul Aziz Bari said it was up to the courts to decide if a matter was sub judice.

He felt it would only be sub judice if the donation was the focus of the debate. “This is about reviewing the AG’s decision and not about the RM2.6 billion or SRC International,” he said.

Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has also filed a suit against Najib, which will come up for case management on April 20.

Mahathir and two former Umno members, Khairuddin Abu Hassan and Anina Saaidudin sued Najib last month, seeking damages over claims of abuse of power in office.

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