Kuala lumpur: The Court of Appeal has granted the Malaysian Bar permission to intervene in an appeal by a lawyer challenging a High Court decision. The decision in question dismissed the lawyer's application for leave to initiate a judicial review concerning notices issued by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Justice Datuk Azizul Azmi Adnan, who led the three-member bench, stated that the Malaysian Bar's role as the legal profession's regulator gives it a duty to protect and promote the profession's interests. This duty, he noted, provides the Bar with a legitimate interest in the matters to be resolved in the appeal. The bench, which included Justices Datin Paduka Evrol Mariette Peters and Aliza Sulaiman, has scheduled the appeal hearing for November 3.
The lawyer, Mahajoth Singh, is contesting the High Court's decision to deny him leave to pursue judicial review proceedings. These proceedings aim to challenge two notices issued to him concerning his client, businessman Datuk Albert Tei Jiann Cheing, who was detained by the MACC on November 28 of the previous year. In his application for judicial review, Mahajoth seeks a certiorari order to nullify an 'Attend an Examination" notice along with another notice that demands he provide information and documents related to Tei for MACC investigations.
Mahajoth argues that these orders violate the statutory protection of privileged communication between solicitor and client, as outlined in Section 126 of the Evidence Act 1950. However, on January 29, High Court judge Alice Loke Yee Ching rejected Mahajoth's leave application, asserting that the notices were part of MACC's investigatory process and within its statutory authority.
During the proceedings, Federal Counsel V. Krishna Priya, representing the Attorney-General, opposed the Malaysian Bar's intervention request, claiming the Bar has no stake in the issue. Conversely, Anand Raj, counsel for the Bar and its President, argued that the Bar should be allowed to intervene due to the potential impact of the Court of Appeal's decision on the legal profession. He emphasized that the Bar, as a regulatory body, plays a significant role beyond that of a bystander. Mahajoth's lawyer, Amanda Sonia Mathew, also supported the Malaysian Bar's intervention request.