Khalid files bid to cite ex-MACC chief for contempt
Hafiz YatimPublished: Apr 2, 2013 6:27 AM | Updated: Apr 2, 2013 8:05 AM
Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim has filed a formal application at the Kuala Lumpur High Court today to cite former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Ahmad Said Hamdan and the federal government for contempt.
Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim has filed a formal application at the Kuala Lumpur High Court today to cite former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Ahmad Said Hamdan and the federal government for contempt.
This comes after Ahmad Said (right) and the government failed to publish an apology to Khalid in the front page of the New Straits Times and also inside The Star newspaper, despite the latter giving them ample time to do so following the recorded settlement before the KL court on March 19.
The filing was done by Khalid's lawyer Sankara Nair today.
Khalid, in his affidavit in support dated April 1, said MACC was given four days from March 19 to publish the apology and that on March 19, the settlement had been recorded and Sankara's firm had sent a draft of the settlement to the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) on the same day. The draft was then agreed upon on the next day.
"My lawyers then submitted a copy of the agreed draft to court to gain the court's approval on March 21. However, on Friday after office hours, the AGC informed Sankara's office that it has problems with publishing the apology in the NST as the headline because it (NST) is not a party in the suit and that there was allegedly no clear order by the court handed to the paper.
"It is unfair for the AGC to inform my solicitors late over this development as the apology is supposed to be published the next day. I stress that the defendant's failure to abide by the requirement amounts to contempt," said the Selangor MB.
On March 25, Khalid said his lawyer had sent a sealed copy of the court order and allowed the AGC to give an extension of 48 hours to publish the apology.
"However, they have failed to publish the apology within the stipulated time. As the defendants also include the federal government, it is not impossible for it to publish the apology in the front page as this was done with Musa Hassan's affidavit which was published on the front page of the daily way back in 1998.
"It is also not impossible for the AGC to give an undertaking that the sealed copy of the order would be supplied later," said Khalid.
MACC applies to amend settlement
Khalid also opposes the amendment of the recorded settlement as applied by MACC director of prosecution Abdul Razak Musa (left) dated March 24 and was received by Sankara two days later, citing that it would severely prejudice him.
"The amendment is a violation to the terms in agreement to the settlement and this brings the situation back warranting for a full trial. The defendants do not have the right to amend the recorded settlement which has been agreed upon by both parties," said the MB, adding that the objection should have been made a day earlier.
Khalid claimed that when the settlement was recorded, the MACC lawyers did not bring up the issue of its concern that the apology could be published if the NST agreed to publish it.
The publication of the apology in the NST's front page is an ample remedy following the defamatory statements made by Ahmad Said against Khalid four years ago. Amending the recorded settlement would prejudice the MB and it would be illogical, he stressed.
This comes after Ahmad Said (right) and the government failed to publish an apology to Khalid in the front page of the New Straits Times and also inside The Star newspaper, despite the latter giving them ample time to do so following the recorded settlement before the KL court on March 19.The filing was done by Khalid's lawyer Sankara Nair today.
Khalid, in his affidavit in support dated April 1, said MACC was given four days from March 19 to publish the apology and that on March 19, the settlement had been recorded and Sankara's firm had sent a draft of the settlement to the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) on the same day. The draft was then agreed upon on the next day.
"My lawyers then submitted a copy of the agreed draft to court to gain the court's approval on March 21. However, on Friday after office hours, the AGC informed Sankara's office that it has problems with publishing the apology in the NST as the headline because it (NST) is not a party in the suit and that there was allegedly no clear order by the court handed to the paper.
"It is unfair for the AGC to inform my solicitors late over this development as the apology is supposed to be published the next day. I stress that the defendant's failure to abide by the requirement amounts to contempt," said the Selangor MB.
On March 25, Khalid said his lawyer had sent a sealed copy of the court order and allowed the AGC to give an extension of 48 hours to publish the apology.
"However, they have failed to publish the apology within the stipulated time. As the defendants also include the federal government, it is not impossible for it to publish the apology in the front page as this was done with Musa Hassan's affidavit which was published on the front page of the daily way back in 1998.
"It is also not impossible for the AGC to give an undertaking that the sealed copy of the order would be supplied later," said Khalid.
MACC applies to amend settlement
Khalid also opposes the amendment of the recorded settlement as applied by MACC director of prosecution Abdul Razak Musa (left) dated March 24 and was received by Sankara two days later, citing that it would severely prejudice him."The amendment is a violation to the terms in agreement to the settlement and this brings the situation back warranting for a full trial. The defendants do not have the right to amend the recorded settlement which has been agreed upon by both parties," said the MB, adding that the objection should have been made a day earlier.
Khalid claimed that when the settlement was recorded, the MACC lawyers did not bring up the issue of its concern that the apology could be published if the NST agreed to publish it.
The publication of the apology in the NST's front page is an ample remedy following the defamatory statements made by Ahmad Said against Khalid four years ago. Amending the recorded settlement would prejudice the MB and it would be illogical, he stressed.
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