KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 13): Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad failed in his judicial review application to challenge the Pulau Batu Puteh Royal Commission of Inquiry’s decision not to allow the presence of his lawyers during the proceedings.
High Court judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh Serjit Singh said the application was dismissed, and made no order as to costs. However, no grounds of judgement were given on Monday.
Mahathir’s lawyer Zainur Zakaria asked Amarjeet for his brief reasons, and after a short pause, the judge said he would write his reasons. Zainur, who appeared with Rafique Rashid Ali, told journalists after proceedings that they had received instructions to appeal against Amarjeet’s decision.
On June 12, Amarjeet had granted leave for Mahathir to challenge the RCI’s decision not to allow his lawyers’ presence at the proceedings. However, he declined to grant a stay of the proceedings, and also did not allow Mahathir’s challenge for the RCI to be accessible for public coverage.
Senior federal counsels Shamsul Bolhassan and Nurhafizah Azizan appeared for the RCI commissioners.
Prior to this, Mahathir had filed a judicial review to have the RCI be open to the public and for his lawyers and himself to be allowed to be present in court.
However, Amarjeet only granted leave to hear the merits of his challenge, of him or his lawyers not being allowed to challenge the RCI decision to bar their presence.
The government last month declassified a 271-page report on Pulau Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge.
The report recommended initiating a criminal investigation against the former prime minister over Malaysia’s decision not to proceed with the review and interpretation applications regarding the International Court of Justice's decision on whether Malaysia or Singapore has sovereignty over the islets.
However, the recommendation to initiate a criminal investigation was not passed unanimously by the RCI members, as two members disagreed with it.
Mahathir had previously questioned the integrity of the report, highlighting the redaction of 47 pages and the commission’s decision to hold its proceedings behind closed doors.
The RCI report was hotly debated during the last Parliament session.