PUTRAJAYA, 20 Feb 2009: Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamarudin has sought a review of Tuesday’s Federal Court decision in refusing to recuse Justice Datuk Augustine Paul from hearing the Home Minister’s appeal against his release from detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA).
He filed the motion under Rule 137 of the Federal Court Rules 1995 through Messrs Mathews Hun Kandiah at the Federal Court Registry here at 4pm today.
On Tuesday, a panel of two judges – Datuk Nik Hashim Nik Ab Rahman and Datuk Zulkefli Ahmad Makinuddin – ruled that Raja Petra’s application to recuse Justice Paul was without any merit.
Lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar who acted for Raja Petra had argued in court then that the application for recusal could not be heard by two judges since Section 74 of the Courts of Judicature Act requires the sitting of three Federal Court judges.
In his new motion, Raja Petra also sought another panel of judges – excluding justices Nik Hashim, Paul and Zulkefli – to hear the review application, and sought for his appeal which was scheduled to be heard on Monday to be adjourned pending the determination of the motion.
Raja Petra, 58, was arrested under the ISA on 12 Sept 2008 and was later sent to the Kamunting detention camp in Taiping, Perak.
On 7 Nov 2008, High Court Judge Datuk Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad granted him a writ of habeas corpus after holding that the detention under Section 8 of the Act did not come within the scope of that section. — Bernama
Mr Smith says
That would mean the Federal Court judges did not know the provisions of the Courts of Judicature Act . How did they become Federal Court judges and make decisions on a two-person bench?