Judge in Guan Eng's appeal case recuses himself

PUTRAJAYA: One of the judges on the three-panel Court of Appeal bench hearing the appeal of Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng on the constitutionality of a section in the anti-graft law recused himself from the case today.
Judge Tan Sri Idrus Harun, who was part of the panel in another case related to the Constitution two weeks ago, agreed with the applicant's concern and recused himself from the case.
"After considering the application and the submissions from both parties, in my view there is merit in the application therefore I recuse myself," he said.
The panel's chair Judge Datuk Umi Kalthom Abd Majid and the other member Judge Datuk Abdul Rahman Sebli had allowed Idrus to decide for himself on the application.
Lim and businesswoman Phang Li Koon have filed an appeal against the Penang High Court's decision in March to strike out their application to declare Section 62 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act unconstitutional.
The section requires the defence to file a statement of defence.
Lim's lead counsel Gobind Singh Deo said the decision to recuse was right as a litigant is entitled to have an assurance that all the judges have an open mind and are not restricted or limited by previous decisions they have made.
He said Idrus was also one of the judges in the panel two weeks ago in Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua's case, where he decided on Article 5 of the Federal Constitution, and said that it needs to be given a strict interpretation and not a wide interpretation.
"It is really up to the judge whether he is comfortable hearing the case or not because when we make our submissions, we will have to state our position very clearly and sometimes it will become very embarrassing because we will have to say things which could offend the learned judge," Gobind told reporters outside the court here.
The court fixed Aug 7 to hear the appeal.
High Court judge Hadhariah Syed Ismail in March had ruled that the section is constitutional and valid and does not infringe on Article 5(1) and 8(1) of the Federal Constitution.
Article 5(1) states that no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty, save in accordance with law.
Article 8(1) states that all persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law.
On June 30, 2016, Lim had claimed trial to two corruption charges at the High Court here.