KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has been told that the contents of former attorney general Tan Sri Tommy Thomas’ memoir titled My Story: Justice in the Wilderness roused public alarm.
Senior Federal Counsel Shamsul Bolhassan said this led the Cabinet to establish a special task force (STF) to investigate the matter.
He submitted that the establishment of the STF was in accordance with the exercise of the Cabinet’s executive powers under Article 39 of the Federal Constitution and that the formation of the STF was approved by the Cabinet, with its primary responsibilities being to gather information or conduct preliminary investigations into the contents of the book.
“As the STF was subject to the order and terms of reference set by the Cabinet, its establishment was indeed in the course of exercising the executive authority of the Federation.
“It is crucial to note that the preliminary investigation was into the alleged contents of the book,” Shamsul said, adding that it was erroneous to say that the establishment of the STF was illegal simply because it did not exist under the law.
According to Shamsul, the decision to form the STF was made in accordance with the law.“Therefore, the suit brought by the plaintiff is scandalous, frivolous or vexatious and an abuse of the process of the court.
“We urge the court to strike out the entire of the said originating summons,” he said during the hearing of the STF and the government’s application to quash the suit by Thomas regarding an investigation report on the contents of his book.
Thomas filed the suit on Oct 27, 2022, naming STF chairman Datuk Seri Fong Joo Chung, seven other members of the team and the government as defendants.
Besides Fong, the STF comprised Datuk Seri Hashim Paijan, Datuk Dr Junaidah Kamaruddin, Datuk Jagjit Singh Bant Singh, Datuk Shaharudin Ali, K. Balaguru, Farah Adura Hamidi and Mohd Najib Surip.
Thomas’ counsel Mervyn Lai submitted that the true purpose of the setting up of the task force and the release of its allegedly unlawful report – including its timing – was for collateral purposes to attack the credibility of the plaintiff.
He said that on or about Oct 6, 2022, a version of the report marked “Confidential” was posted on the Internet and it was widely circulated thereafter.
The counsel further said the suit was not a plain and obvious case suitable for summary determination as it involved novel questions of law which have hitherto not been determined by the courts.
“It also involves the abuse of government machinery, using outside mechanisms not prescribed by law to publicly vilify and cast aspersions on an ex-attorney general in respect of his conduct while in office,” he added.
Judge Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh fixed Aug 8 for a decision on the striking out application.
Thomas, who was AG from June 2018 to February 2020, sought a declaration that the report titled “Report of the Special Task Force – Investigation into the Allegations in the Book Titled My Story: Justice in the Wilderness”, was an invalid document and against the law.
In his originating summons, Thomas claimed the publication of the report violated Sections 499 and 500 of the Penal Code and/or Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
He also sought a declaration that the publication of the report by the government violated his right to his reputation as protected by Articles 5(1) and 13(1) of the Federal Constitution.
The Cabinet set up the STF on Oct 8, 2021, to conduct a study on the revelations contained in the book.
On Oct 13 last year, the government declassified the STF’s report, which recommended among others that Thomas be investigated for possible offences. — Bernama
