Bar wants Federal Court to rule on appointments of Raus, Zulkefli

KUALA LUMPUR: An application to strike out the Malaysia Bar's originating summons over the appointment of two judges, including the appointment of Chief Justice Tun Md Raus Sharif, is expected to be filed in the future.
Meanwhile, The Bar had filed an application to refer six constitutional questions to the Federal Court, directly.
Lawyer Datuk S.Ambiga said both applications will be heard before High Court judge Datin Azizah Nawawi on Nov 19.
In the application, which named three judges including former Chief Judge Tun Arifin Zakaria as the respondents, the Bar sought for an order that the questions be stated as "special case" and be referred to the Federal Court and an order for all the proceedings in the High Court to be stayed pending the determination by the Federal Court.
Among the questions are:
» whether the appointment of Raus as CJ and Tan Sri Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin as President of the Court of Appeal, after they attained the mandatory retirement age of 66 years 6 months is unconstitutional and void.
» whether the appointment of Raus and Zulkefli as additional judges, while they were still serving judges, was unconstitutional and void.
In the originating summons filed on Oct 10, the Bar had named Arifin, Raus, Zulkefli and the government of Malaysia.
Among others it is seeking for orders to remove Raus and Zulkefli, from their respective offices.
The Bar is seeking for a declaration that the advice of the former Chief Judge Tun Datuk Seri Arifin Zakaria to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on March 30, 2017 that Raus and Zulkefli as additional judges under Article 122(1A) of the Federal Constitution is unconstitutional and void.
The Bar is also seeking a declaration that the appointment of the Raus as additional judge, announced on July 7, 2017 and as Chief Justice of the Federal Court, with effect from Aug 4, 2017, is unconstitutional and void.
The Bar is also seeking for a declaration that the appointment of Zulkefli as additional judge announced on July 7, 2017 and as the President of Court of Appeal, with effect from Sept 28, 2017, is unconstitutional and void.
The Bar is seeking for a declaration that the advice of Arifin to the Prime Minister, upon consultation being sought, that Zulkefli be appointed as the President of the Court of Appeal under Article 122B of the Federal Constitution is unconstitutional and void.
Lawyer Steven Thiru also represented the Bar while Senior Federal Counsels Datuk Amarjeet Singh and Suzana Atan appeared for the government.