Judge Mariana Yahya also allowed the committee’s application to strike out Court of Appeal Judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer’s suit, which is closely tied to the remedy sought in the judicial review application.
Hamid filed an originating summons and the judicial review application last October.
Mariana’s rulings were provided via a virtual hearing due to the movement control order in force now.
“The committee’s application to strike out and the attorney-general’s opposition to the leave for judicial review were successful but with no order to costs,” said lawyer Bastian Pius Vendargon.
Lawyer Wilson Joy Appukuttan, who assisted Bastian, said a formal application, as ordered by the judge, would be made soon to obtain a stay on the leave matter pending an appeal in the Court of Appeal.
“We want the proceeding before the committee to be halted pending an outcome in the appellate court,” he told FMT.
Mariana had allowed an interim stay of the proceedings before the committee until the outcome of the leave application for judicial review today.
Hamid wants a declaration that the in-camera proceeding is against the rules of natural justice, irrational and against the Federal Constitution.
He also wants a declaration that the committee, chaired by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, is acting unconstitutionally in framing charges against him and that the charges should be declared null and void.
As for the originating summons, he is seeking direction in relation to the affidavit and judgment he delivered in a criminal appeal case.
Hamid, who is scheduled to retire this year, posed a question as to whether the judgment he delivered last June could be subjected to an investigation by the committee.
He also asked whether the affidavit he affirmed last year in support of a suit filed by lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo was subject to scrutiny by the committee.
The committee then filed an application to strike out the suit.
At an international conference in Kuala Lumpur in 2018, Hamid had alleged there had been judicial interference in several high-profile cases.
It led to a suit against the chief justice early in 2019 by Sangeet, accusing the top judge of failing to defend and preserve the integrity of the judiciary.
Hamid filed the affidavit in support of Sangeet’s suit which was dismissed in late 2019.
In August, FMT reported that the committee had issued Hamid a show cause notice over the affidavit and the judgment.
Hamid, among other things, had said in the judgment that the judiciary was expected to act as a check and balance on the executive and legislature, as provided for under the Federal Constitution.