By Peter Sibon
KUCHING, Jan 23: Sarawak de facto Law Minister Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali said the independence of the judiciary must be upheld to ensure justice is served without fear or favour.
“From this outcome, the country’s judicial system is independent. The executive has so far not interfered with the judiciary’s decision of the courts.
“So, I think the independence of the executive and the judiciary is well and alive (in Malaysia) because according to the judgement just now, there are many cases where the courts decided against the government and it showed it didn’t interfere.
“So, rightfully, the executive should not interfere with the judiciary and we hope that it will be the case here. That should be the ideal way to move forward as a country,” Sharifah Hasidah told members of the media at the High Court complex today.
Sharifah Hasidah pointed out that there was no reason for Judicial Commissioner (JC) Christopher Chin to be recused for not being fair and biased simply because he (the judge) was concerned with what the executive (the government) was thinking.
“That’s why the judge has not recused himself from the hearing because there is no real bias, it is not fair to accuse the judge for being bias because of his position is being appointed as a Judicial Commissioner,” Sharifah Hasidah reiterated.
Earlier, the High Court dismissed the recusal application applied by Petronas with cost and Chin has fixed Feb 5 to hear Petronas’ appeal for the stay of execution.
The Plaintiff; the Comptroller of State Sales Tax, Sarawak and the Government of Sarawak were represented by State Attorney General Datuk Talat Mahmood Abdul Rashid and State legal advisor Datuk Seri JC Fong.
Sarawak is suing Petonas for its non-payment of 5 per cent State Sales tax for six months from January till Jane, 2019 for a sum of RM1.3 billion. —DayakDaily
dps-230120-ps-judicial-p1: Sharifah Hasidah (3rd left) having a group photo with supporters of the Sarawak government outside the court complex today together with Assistant Minister of Tourism Datuk Sebastian Ting (3rd right), Talat (2nd right) and Fong (2nd left).
