> Parliament misled by Nazri

Bukit Gelugor Member of Parliament Karpal Singh said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz had misled Parliament when he said judges involved in the 1988 Judicial crisis were not sacked but were asked to take early retirement.  

Karpal said he would move to cite Nazri under standing order 36 (12) for misleading Parliament on Monday where he would be subsequently referred to the Committee of Privileges for action to be taken. 

 

He said Nazri must explain why he had publicly in Parliament made the statement which amounted to having cleared the judges names by the tribunal, inconsistent with the findings of the two tribunals.

On Thursday, Nazri had told the House that they were found guilty by a panel of tribunal and they were asked to take early retirement , "not sacked" when he revealed the quantum of ex-gratia payout, said Supreme Court judges the late Tan Sri Wan Suleiman Pawan Teh and George Edward Seah Kim Seng were paid RM2 million each.

Tan Sri Wan Hamzah Mohd Salleh, Tan Sri Azmi Kamaruddin and the late Tan Sri Eusoffe Abdolcadeer were paid RM500,000 each.

"They were not sacked. They were asked to retire early. Its like optional. At 66, you can (receive)  pension. Since they chose to retire, the pension was paid. The Pension Department would not pay (pension) if they had broken any laws," Nazri had said.

Karpal referred to the Malayan Law Journal (MLJ) dated Oct 28 1988, which reported that Supreme Court Lord President Tun Salleh Abas and Supreme Court judges, the late Tan Sri Wan Suleiman Pawan Teh and Datuk George Edward Seah were dismissed from office after the tribunal found them guilty of misconduct. 

 

They were, however, removed from office with full pension. 

 

The other three judges, the late Tan Sri Datuk Mohd Azmi Kamaruddin, Tan Sri Eusoffe Abdoolcader and Tan Sri Wan Hamzah Mohd Salleh were suspended but

subsequently reinstated.  

 

Karpal told reporters at the Palace of Justice today that in order to clear the honour and dignity of the judges sacked in 1988, the Government should have set up two tribunals to absolve them from the actions taken against them instead of giving ex-gratia payment. 

 

"What should have been done was not to pay out ex-gratia to the judges but to have another tribunal set up to clear their name. It can still be done. Paying them ex-gratia payment does not in anyway clear them from having been found guilty for misbehaviour," he said. 

 

Karpal said the payment of ex-gratia to the judges meant that the Government felt that they (the judges) were in fact not guilty - Bernama.