High Court Judicial Commissioner Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh has now twice recused himself from hearing cases against the government and related to politicians.
On Friday, Wan Ahmad stepped down from presiding over PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim’s suit against the government for alleged fraudulent conviction for sodomy in a case popularly known as “Sodomy 2”, on grounds that he was the deputy home minister in 2008 when the case occurred.
Wan Ahmad had previously recused himself from hearing Prime Minister Najib Razak’s suit against DAP’s Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua over a controversial Facebook video over the tabling of the amendments to the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act (Act 355).
Senior lawyer Akberdin Abdul Kader told FMT that he concurred with Wan Ahmad’s move to not hear Anwar’s case as he was previously involved in the government and had knowledge of the case.
“It is a correct decision to eschew the likelihood of being biased against either party,” he said.
Human rights lawyer Nizam Bashir also agreed, saying that a judge must step down if there is a possibility of bias or apparent bias.
“Judicial recusal is not a matter of discretion,” he said.
Wan Ahmad was appointed as Umno senator and deputy home minister in 2008 before he retired from politics in 2013.
He had also lost in the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary by-election to a PAS candidate in 2009.
He was appointed as judicial commissioner on Dec 15, 2015, and had resigned from Umno a day before.
Wan Ahmad had previously said when he recused himself in Najib’s case that his “sacred duty is to preserve, protect and defend the Federal Constitution without fear or favour.”
Another lawyer, V Parthipan, said if the judge had not recused himself, there could have been a possibility of bias.
“Anwar could use this as grounds for an appeal if JC Wan Ahmad continued to preside and subsequently dismissed the suit,” he said.
Lawyer M Kulasegaran said that it was always the rule that a judge stop hearing a case where he may be biased or if he had access to information on people involved in the suit.
“Having said that, it was a wise decision by the judge,” he said.
However, Kula who is also DAP’s Ipoh Barat MP, said it was better for people with background in private or public legal practice to be appointed to the judiciary, instead of those with political backgrounds.
“They should be given priority when being considered to fill the judges’ position,” he said. “People with political backgrounds should be the last choice.”
Kula added that even if individuals from political backgrounds accept the judicial commissioner’s appointment, they should serve in rural areas as there are fewer politically-related cases filed there.
Earlier this week, another High Court judge, Kamaludin Md Said also stepped down from hearing Anwar’s other Sodomy 2 lawsuit.
Kamaludin said he had handled three of Anwar’s cases when he was attached to the Attorney-General’s Chambers as a deputy public prosecutor and senior federal counsel.
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