Former Chief Justice Zaki Tun Azmi took time from his RM2.2 billion job as a road builder to offer us some pearls of wisdom about the judiciary.
He says that when he was the CJ he never received any calls from the PM or other members of the executive. In other words, the judiciary in Malaysia is independent, said the former Umno lawyer.
Yes, we believe you. The power grab in Perak and the decision by the highest courts of the land to thumb their nose at longstanding precedents laid down by Malaysian judges pre-Mahathir era really does smack of independence.
He says that when he was the CJ he never received any calls from the PM or other members of the executive. In other words, the judiciary in Malaysia is independent, said the former Umno lawyer.
Yes, we believe you. The power grab in Perak and the decision by the highest courts of the land to thumb their nose at longstanding precedents laid down by Malaysian judges pre-Mahathir era really does smack of independence.
Anyway, Zaki says that the decision by the court to acquit Anwar is proof that the judiciary is independent. Actually the jury is still out as to why Anwar was acquitted. The evidence was flimsy from start but the High Court judge went from being so sure of the accuser at close of prosecution’s case to suddenly having cold feet about the veracity of his evidence.
Only the judge and His Maker really can tell us what happened.
Only the judge and His Maker really can tell us what happened.
Zaki should perhaps do a check and find out if the Opposition or if the likes of Bersih win cases in court anymore, or if they even get leave to argue their cases.
Anyway, should we expect a person who has obtained a hefty road contract, the Kinrara Damansara exchange, and the plum position of head of civil service commission, to say anything worthwhile.
In case anyone forgot, Zaki’s partner as a roadbuilder is Umno lawyer Hafarizam Harun.
The first inquiry into the demolition of the Babri mosque on December 6, 1992 was completed within seven days. On the morning of Sunday, December 13, Sharad Pawar, then defence minister, invited a group of friends and colleagues to the home of an associate MP. He watched a film – live footage of the whole episode, taken by some government agency, possibly intelligence. Those antique reels should still be somewhere in the archives. There was little that any inquiry committee could have added about the sequence of events on December 6 that ended with the fall of the mosque by the evening.
The causes of this historic event were also a matter of public record. L K Advani’s rath yatra was not a surreptitious journey. Indeed, extensive media coverage may have been part of the purpose, since he wanted to create mass momentum for his political project. Neither was there any secrecy when Congress laid the foundation stone of the temple to Lord Ram in the middle of the 1989 polls. Babri was a central theme, along with Bofors, of those dramatic elections. The 1989 BJP versions of Varun Gandhi were full-throated, not muted, in their slogans as parties sought votes with a rhetoric that has been subsequently banned: Mandir wahin banayenge! and Mussalman ke do sthaan, Pakistan ya kabristan! No one hid anything: We shall build a temple on that precise spot! Muslims have two options, either Pakistan or the graveyard!Democracy is a volatile game played in the open. What was there left to inquire into?
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