On Oct 27, Thomas filed a suit in which he claimed that the publication by the government of a report prepared by the task force assigned to investigate the contents of his book, “My Story: Justice In The Wilderness”, was a breach of law and his constitutional rights.
Senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan said he informed Justice Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh about the matter during case management at the High Court today.
“The judge has instructed that the application is to be filed by Dec 15 while Thomas is to reply by Jan 12,” he said.
Lawyer Mervyn Lai appeared for Thomas.
Wan Ahmad has fixed another case management on Jan 13 to finalise a date to hear the striking out application.
Thomas, who was the AG between June 2018 and February 2020, named task force chairman JC Fong and its members – Hashim Paijan, Junaidah Kamarruddin, Jagjit Singh Bant Singh, Shaharudin Ali, K Balaguru, Farah Adura Hamidi and Najib Surip – as defendants.
He wants a declaration that the task force is an unlawful body and has no legal authority to perform the functions assigned to it by the government, which he also named as defendant.
Thomas also wants a declaration that the purported report, titled “Laporan Pasukan Petugas Khas – Siasatan Ke Atas Dakwaan-Dakwaan Dalam Buku Bertajuk My Story: Justice in the Wilderness”, produced by the task force is an illegal document and not authorised by law.
In the originating summons, he said the publication violates Sections 499 and 500 of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
He wants a declaration that the government’s publication of the report violates his right to reputation which, he says, is protected by Articles 5(1) and 13(1) of the Federal Constitution.
Thomas is asking for compensation from all the defendants if the court finds that his constitutional rights have been breached.
He also wants aggravated and exemplary damages from the task force members to be paid by each of them personally.
Thomas’ memoir was published in January last year.
Its controversial contents drew criticism from multiple quarters, including current AG Idrus Harun, lawyers, politicians and the general public, leading to the filing of numerous police reports.
On Oct 8 last year, the Cabinet established the task force to undertake a preliminary study of disclosures made by Thomas in the book.
On Dec 22, the Cabinet approved the task force’s terms of reference, which involved investigating allegations about the judiciary, exposure of government secrets, abuse of power, professional negligence and seditious statements.
The task force’s report was tabled before the Cabinet in September this year and made public on Oct 21.