In a statement, he said the most effective basis of invoking the court’s jurisdiction over the yacht, which arrived in Malaysian waters on Tuesday, was admiralty law or the law of shipping.
As longtime chairman of the Bar Council’s Shipping and Admiralty Law Committee and the founding president of the International Malaysian Society of Maritime Law, he said, Sitpah Selvaratnam was the obvious choice to advise the Attorney-General’s Chambers on the matter.
“Sitpah is the acknowledged leader of the Admiralty Bar with regard to litigation matters, having been involved in numerous arrests of ships and vessels in our courts, and also opposing arrests in more than 25 years of special practice,” he said, adding that such experience was necessary in serving the warrant of arrest with the sheriff on the yacht.
Sitpah’s appointment to the team came under question after it was revealed that she was from law firm Tommy Thomas Advocates & Solicitors.
Nik Saiful Adli Burhan, the chairman of Umno Youth’s young lawyers secretariat, had voiced concern that this could lead to a conflict of interest.
However, Thomas said it must be remembered that the legal proceedings were brought for the benefit of Malaysia.
“Accordingly, we are entitled to Malaysia’s best shipping lawyers.
“There is no question of conflict of interest because we are all on the same side. It is neither right nor sensible for Malaysia to be deprived of the services of Sitpah merely because I was in the firm where she has been a consultant for the past eight years.”
He added that the decision to appoint Sitpah had been made by him alone as he had trust and confidence in her ability and integrity.
“Chambers does not have a specialist shipping unit,” he said.
“Accordingly, I decided to turn to the Bar, and chose three of Malaysia’s leading shipping lawyers – Sitpah, Jeremy Joseph and Ong Chee Kwan – to represent the claimants, along with Alice Loke, senior federal counsel.”
Given the complex nature of the litigation, with stakes as high as RM1 billion, he said, Joseph and Ong from the solicitors’ law firm Joseph & Partners would be paid normal commercial rates.
“Sitpah, on the other hand, will not be paid any fees. Her services are rendered to us without any charge to the taxpayer.”
Adding that both Sitpah and Joseph had recently turned down an offer by foreign parties to act for them in this matter, Thomas said the true test of Sitpah’s expertise would come into play if and when businessman Low Taek Jho, who has been linked to the yacht, or any other party applied to set aside the warrant of arrest.
“The arguments will then be vigorously put forward by all sides when the court hears the matter on its merits, and it is critical that Malaysia has the best barristers.
“Litigation is dynamic: unpredictable events occur in court, and Malaysia’s case must be in safe hands.”
The US$250 million (RM1 billion) superyacht Equanimity arrived at the Boustead Cruise Centre terminal in Pulau Indah on Tuesday.
It is believed that the Indonesian government, which seized the yacht at the request of US authorities early this year, decided to hand it over to Malaysia following a visit by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to Jakarta last June.
The yacht is is believed to be part of the assets purchased using funds from 1MDB.
Its purported owner Low, better known as Jho Low, is also being sought to assist in the investigation into 1MDB.