An official of the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), speaking to FMT, confirmed receiving a copy of the notice which was filed just before the end of the 30-day period.

“We were served with a copy of the notice and draft of the court order made on July 24,” the official said.

The July 24 order was a decision by judge Ismail Berahim of the High Court in Kota Kinabalu, striking out Yong’s suit as being based purely on conjecture and speculation. The judge also ordered Yong to pay the government RM3,000 in costs.

Lawyers Lawrence Thien and Valery Lim represented Yong.

In June, the government in its application to annul the suit, said Yong did not have the legal standing to stop the setting up of the inquiry.

An affidavit affirmed by senior federal counsel Alice Loke said Yong had given no reasonable cause of action to warrant the reliefs sought.

Loke said Yong had likewise failed to demonstrate how he had been affected by the government’s decision to set up the RCI, which was announced by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in February after senior judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer claimed there was abuse and interference in the judiciary.

Hamid, a senior Court of Appeal judge, made several allegations in a 65-page affidavit filed on Feb 14 in support of an application by lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo to declare that the chief justice had failed to defend the integrity of the judiciary.

The AGC has also applied in the High Court in Kuala Lumpur to expunge a major portion of the affidavit.