PUTRAJAYA (April 27): Four High Court (Commercial) judicial commissioners (JCs), one of whom is presiding over the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) main suit against several former office bearers and former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, were among the 17 that were confirmed as judges on Wednesday (April 27).
Atan Mustaffa Yussof Ahmad, Ong Chee Kwan, Anand Ponnudurai and Nadzarin Wok Nordin were the four commercial court judges elevated in a ceremony conducted at the Palace of Justice before Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat and the other top three judges.
Atan Mustaffa is presently presiding over the 1MDB suit against Najib and decided to grant a Mareva injunction on the former premier barring the disposing of US$681 million of assets.
Ong presided in the case of Bestinet Sdn Bhd, which owned and operated the Foreign Worker Centralised Management System (FWCMS). It is linked to Datuk Abdul Hakim Hamidi, the younger brother to the former home minister and current Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Nadzarin recently presided over an application by four subsidiaries of Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd to be placed under judicial management, while Anand is the presiding judge in the Malaysian government suit against the National Feedlot Corporation Sdn Bhd case.
They were among the 17, possibly the largest number so far to be confirmed as High Court judges.
Also on the list of confirmed High Court judges were former senior federal counsel at the Attorney General's Chambers Datuk Amarjeet Singh Serjit Singh, who joined the the judiciary fraternity in 2019; former Federal Court chief registrar Datuk Seri Latifah Mohd Tahar; Quay Chew Soon; and Mohd Radzi Abdul Hamid.
The others are Dr Shahnaz Sulaiman, Datuk Aslam Zainuddin, K Muniandy, and Evrol Mariette Peters.
They took their oath before Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Azahar Mohamed.
Meanwhile, Datuk Julie Lack, Leonard Steve Shim, Christopher Chin Soo Yin, Datuk Duncan Sikodol, and Wong Siong Tung were confirmed as High Court judges of Sabah and Sarawak.
They took their oath before Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim.
Tengku Maimun in her speech reminded them that their oath taken as High Court judges consists of three important elements, namely carrying out their duties with sincerity; allegiance to Malaysia; and upholding, protecting and defending the Federal Constitution.
“The pledge or oath made is not merely a formality or ritual but it has a big meaning as it is to be inculcated and be a guidance in your daily duties as judges,” she said.
The CJ added that the criteria for their elevation included their integrity, competency, good moral values, sternness, not taking sides (justice), the ability to deliver judgments at the appropriate time, craftiness and diligence, and being able to manage a case well.
“Other criteria included not having three written judgments due within the stipulated time,” Tengku Maimun said.
“With your confirmation as High Court judges, you are duly reminded to continuously be diligent in performing your daily tasks and maintain the code of conduct in accordance with the Code of Ethics of Judges 2009 while presiding to hear and decide cases based on the correct legal principles,” she added.
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