KUALA LUMPUR (July 22): Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla, a lawyer associated with former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and who claims to have played a major role in the formation of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), is suing the party over alleged non-payment of legal fees.
Besides the party, Haniff also named Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin and treasurer Datuk Mohamed Salleh Bajuri as defendants in the RM12.5 million suit.
The lawyer filed the suit through his own law firm on Saturday.
In his statement of claim sighted by The Edge today, Haniff claimed that he had helped the party in legal matters since its inception in 2016, under the leadership of Dr Mahathir, with the aim of taking on the Barisan Nasional government led by former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
He said Bersatu sought his help due to his active involvement against the governance of the country led by Najib in 2015 and 2016. He was summoned by Dr Mahathir and former Kedah menteri besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir to provide legal advice on Bersatu's formation as they all shared the same agenda.
Haniff said he provided legal advice and helped draft Bersatu's constitution and letters of correspondence, besides assisting in the set-up of the party’s pro-tem committee members and then attend to a challenge to its registration by the Registrar of Societies (RoS) during Najib's premiership.
He claimed he had helped the party's initial committee members that included Dr Mahathir as chairman, Muhyiddin as president and Mukhriz as deputy president.
“I continued to provide advice to Bersatu from time to time until Feb 24, 2020,” Haniff said in his statement of claim, adding that he was invited to the party's extraordinary general meeting.
He further said that from time to time his services were required by the party for legal advice, including by the party's wings and also the president and chairman.
Haniff claimed that his appointment to advise the party on legal matters required him to be present in the party meetings, its headquarters and that he was also responsible in drafting the cause papers when the party had problems with the RoS in early 2018.
As the party greenhorns had no legal knowledge regarding the general election regulations, Haniff claimed that he had rendered the legal service to advise them and represented Bersatu in other meetings with the legal divisions of PKR, Parti Amanah Negara and DAP and issued statements.
This led to Pakatan Harapan winning the 14th general election and Dr Mahathir being appointed as the seventh prime minister, Haniff said.
However, the actions of Muhyiddin and several other lawmakers “that led to the Sheraton move saw the formation of the backdoor government in February 2020”, he added.
Haniff said he had sent an invoice on Jan 11, 2021 to Bersatu for the legal services he had rendered from 2016 to Feb 23, 2020, and there was an acknowledgement of receipt by the party.
“Since receiving the invoice for the legal fees and the filing of this action, there has been no denial on the part of Bersatu regarding the bill. Subsequent reminder letters dated Feb 16, 2021 and March 5, 2021 were also sent to the party, but there is no response.
“Hence, I am seeking a court order for the party and its office bearers to pay the RM12.5 million plus interests and cost of the action,” Haniff said. He is also seeking other relief deemed necessary by the court.
At a case management of the matter before deputy registrar R Pushpharasi today, Aug 18 was fixed as the next case management date.
Meanwhile, Bersatu's information chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan was quoted as saying that the party will respond to the suit in due course.
“I had always thought Haniff was the personal lawyer to Mahathir, who was at one time Bersatu chairman.
“If he was the party’s official lawyer, he would have acted as per the party’s Supreme Council instructions and served the whole party, not serving only one person,” Wan Saiful was quoted as saying by Free Malaysia Today.