The Kelantan Syariah Court chief judge Daud Mohamad said today the appointment of Abu Bakar Abdullah Kutty as high court judge was in accordance with laid-down procedures and should not be questioned.

He said the state civil service had made the decision based on its conditions for such an appointment and it had been approved by the sultan.

The Kelantan branch of the Syariah Lawyers Association had opposed the appointment, saying that Abu Bakar did not have the minimum 10 years experience as kadi or syariah lower court judge.

Daud said that experience as a judge was not a requirement in any court for appointment as a judge, and that the positions of chief prosecutor and chief registrar which Abu Bakar had held were equal in status to the post of a judge.

"In fact, any civil servant appointed as a syariah officer in Kelantan is qualified to be a judge in any court even without experience as a judge.

"Thus, the question of whether he (Abu Bakar) is qualified or not because he was never a judge does not arise," he told Bernama.

Coordinator for the Kelantan syariah lawyers Che Rosmah Mohd Zain had said that her association had suggested that lower court judge Che Hashik Deraman be promoted to the high court.

Daud confirmed receiving a letter of protest from the association on Jan 16, the same date that the appointment of Abu Bakar took effect as successor to Mohd Yusoff Awang whose tenure had ended.

Abu Bakar was now in Riyadh undergoing a course before starting work soon, Daud said.

He also denied an allegation by the association that there was a backlog of 300 cases in the syariah courts because of a lack of judges.

"I wonder where they got that figure. The syariah judicial department does not have that record," he said.

- Bernama