blogtunm.blogspot.com Tun M
1. When I questioned the Government for agreeing to settle out of court the suit for wrongful dismissal of former AG Apandi Ali, instead of the current AG providing an explanation, it was Apandi who reacted.
2. Obviously Apandi was not happy that I pointed out that his dismissal was justified on grounds of dereliction of duty and the Government’s decision to settle and compensate him with an undisclosed sum of money is tantamount to agreeing that he was wrongfully dismissed.
3. To my mind, it is important to establish whether Apandi had failed to perform his duties as an AG.
4. The decision by nine judges from three different levels of courts which found Najib guilty of the SRC International case (a 1MDB related company) proved that Apandi, who exonerated Najib for any wrong doing had failed in performing his duties. Clearly the nine judges believed that there were cases for Najib to be charged.
5. Similarly, last year, when High Court judge Datuk Azimah Omar dismissed Apandi’s defamation suit against Lim Kit Siang, her judgement was very damning of Apandi’s role in the 1MDB scandal.
6. In her judgement, on the above case, Azimah, among others, said of Apandi: “The Plaintiff’s action in hastily closing and concluding investigations, and the Plaintiff’s inaction to meaningfully investigate the matter, indeed justifies the Defendant’s imputation that the Plaintiff ought to be investigated for his conducts which may have assisted in the cover up of the 1MDB scandal.
7. She also noted that Lim was justified in his statement urging Apandi to answer why he had absolved Najib of the 1MDB affair in 2016.
8. If those were not sufficient grounds to prove Apandi’s dereliction of duty, the recent revelations by Zeti, former Governor of Bank Negara, at the 1MDB trial that she had asked Apandi to charge several staff of 1MDB for their involvement in the scandal but Apandi did not act on it.
9. I brought this matter up because public funds cannot be used to compensate Apandi when he was dismissed because of dereliction of duty.
10. His decision to absolve and exonerate Najib over the 1MDB scandal had allowed the kleptocrats to fleece the nations of billions of ringgit.
11. And then, more public funds are awarded to Apandi who was exposed to have abetted and absolved the kleptocrats.
12. Apandi also tried to defend himself over the issue of dereliction of duty by linking the decision to withdraw application for judicial review in relation to Pulau Batu Puteh which was made under my watch which he said was also a dereliction of duty.
13. In the first place, what kind of legal brain does he have when he tried to justify his dereliction of duty by citing my purported dereliction of duty? Does that mean that it is justified for him to commit dereliction of duty if others commit such things too?
14. Since he wanted to bring up the Pulau Batu Puteh issue, I am prepared to answer and explain my decision whenever and if the Government feels necessary.
15. My refusal to answer is to the committee which is headed by Apandi who had been exposed to be incompetent and had been accused of abetting in the 1MDB crime.
16. For the life of me, I cannot understand until today that the Government had appointed Apandi, whose credibility as an AG had been sullied and tarnished for his dereliction of duty, to head the Pulau Batu Puteh committee.
17. Isn’t it a joke that a person so obviously incompetent is given the responsibilities to find wrong doings of others?
18. Instead, based on all the court findings and expose, Apandi should be charged for his role in the 1MDB scandal.
19. My flying kites does not negate his dereliction of duty. It merely proves that the charge is correct.
