Mahathir Vs Anwar Judicial Commissioner Withdraws From Suit

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Shah Alam High Court judicial commissioner Jamhirah Ali has recused herself from presiding over former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's RM150 million defamation suit against Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
She made the decision due to her family ties to a lead counsel representing the Pakatan Harapan chairperson.
Mahathir's counsel Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali confirmed that Jamhari decided on the matter during case management of the civil suit this afternoon.
The plaintiff is suing the PKR president over allegations that the former abused power to amass wealth while in power.
The lawyer said that Anwar’s legal team raised the issue of Jamhirah’s family ties to one of the premier’s counsel and sought the civil court’s guidance.
Judicial commissioner Jamhirah AliRafique said the judicial commissioner then chose to withdraw from the civil action in the interest of justice and to avoid the perception of a conflict of interest.
“The plaintiff (Mahathir) has instructed not to object to the said recusal,” Rafique said.
He added that the civil court then fixed July 21 for further case management to enable the lawsuit to be transferred to a new judge.
When contacted this afternoon, a member of Anwar’s legal team from the law firm of Thomas Philip confirmed the outcome of the civil court proceedings, adding they had raised the issue with the judicial commissioner in previous case management.
Through the writ of summons filed on May 3, the plaintiff is suing the PKR president over allegations that the former abused power to amass wealth while in power.
On June 14, Anwar, the Tambun MP, filed his statement of defence, stating he is prepared to prove the allegations' veracity in court.
He cited multiple alleged bail-outs of companies linked to Mahathir’s children as well as purported cronyism and nepotism during the plaintiff’s first stint as prime minister in the 1990s.
Then through his reply filed yesterday, the former Langkawi MP countered that Anwar is a pathological liar who has never furnished proof of the wealth allegations. - Mkini

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