A Srimurugan said such a negative perception could not be avoided as it was a high profile case and had caught the attention of the public over the last two years.
“What happened today really has undermined public confidence in the AG and given rise to much speculation,” he told FMT.
The lawyer said this in response to the High Court granting a discharge not amounting to an acquittal to former federal territories minister Tengku Adnan over a RM1 million graft case.
Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali allowed the prosecution’s application for a discharge after deputy public prosecutor Julia Ibrahim informed the court that they did not wish to proceed with trial due to some “new developments”.
Julia then applied for a “discharge not amounting to acquittal” order against Tengku Adnan, popularly known as Ku Nan, as she said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission needed time to conduct further investigations into the case.
Ku Nan is said to have received RM1 million from businessman Tan Eng Boon to approve an application by Nucleus Properties Sdn Bhd (now known as Paragon City Development Sdn Bhd) to increase the industrial plot ratio of a piece of land on Jalan Semarak.
The offence was said to have taken place at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) CIMB branch on Dec 27, 2013.
Last year, Nazlan fined Tan RM1.5 million after he pleaded guilty to abetting Tengku Adnan in receiving a RM1 million bribe, under Section 165 of the Penal Code.
The ex-minister’s trial was delayed for more than a year due to Ku Nan going to the Federal Court to seek to disqualify Nazlan on the grounds of bias, and the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak.
Srimurugan noted that giving a discharge meant the prosecution had the discretion to continue or discontinue with the same charge and that it was not time barred.
“In the midst of all these, the trial judge is helpless and blame should not be apportioned on the judiciary. This is under the absolute discretion of the AG, as laid out in the Federal Constitution,” he added.
He said AG Idrus Harun should offer an explanation, noting that Ku Nan was charged during the tenure of Idrus’ predecessor Tommy Thomas.
Another lawyer, M Visvanathan, agreeing that the discharge could erode confidence in the AG, said the timing of the discontinuation of the trial was made interesting due to numerous political happenings in the country, including calls to initiate a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
Visvanathan said it was a fact that under Article 145 (1), the King appointed the AG on the advice of the prime minister.
“In reality, the AG is perceived to be beholden to the government of the day though his appointment comes from the king,” he added.
Further, Visvanathan said under Article 145 (3), the AG had the absolute discretion to frame, conduct and withdraw criminal charges and it could not be challenged in a court of law.
“However, in the name of transparency and accountability, it will look good on him to offer an explanation to the public,” he added.
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