So Is Terrirudin A Chief Justice Candidate Or His Name Never Made It To The List At All

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AS law-conscious Malaysians turn to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to uphold judiciary integrity in the appointment of top judges, a constitutions lawyer has offered the media his services free-of-charge amid the classification of the leaked Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) meeting minutes under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) 1972.

New Sin Yew who is also a human rights champion made the offer as he took a jibe at Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil over the weakened (July 13) for tending to prioritise arresting the source of the leak instead of addressing the content of the30-page JAC minutes which – if true – shows interference with the judiciary,
“To all media friends, I will act for you pro bono if you are investigated,” the senior advocate at AmerBON penned on X in reaction to Fahmi cautioning the media against disseminating the leak documents given the OSA applies if they are found to be authentic and classified as government secret.

For context, prior to Fahmi’s statement, former Barisan Nasional (BN) strategic communication deputy director Datuk Eric See-To had made a damning claim that “the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office) had plans to make Terri (Tan Sri Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh) Chief Judge of Malaya since last year”.
“After the post became vacant in February 2024, JAC (had) proposed candidates but PMO rejected all and pushed Terri’s name by July (2024) despite him being AG (Attorney-General) for only nine months then and facing heavy protests from the Bar Council and Ramkarpal Singh (DAP Bukit Gelugor MP).

“By November 2024, Terri was appointed Federal Court Judge, just a year after becoming AG. The leaked JAC minutes now show Terri was nominated for Chief Judge in May 2025 against the Chief Justice’s advice, citing integrity issues.”
Police probe lends legitimacy
True enough, just hours later on the same day (July 13), the police launched a probe under the OSA into the purported leak of the JAC meeting minutes.
According to Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Khalid Ismail, the investigation will focus on how the internal information could have been exposed and revealed on social media.
The case is being probed under Section 8 of the OSA which stipulates offences regarding wrongful communication of official secrets.

On top of this, the police are also looking into the case under Section 203A of the Penal Code (disclosures of information obtained during performance of one’s duties) and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act (improper use of network facilities).
This itself sparked a social media frenzy with Cilisos Media editor-in-chief Iqbal Fatkhi wondering if the action of the authorities – by subjecting the JAC minutes under OSA scrutiny – would only lend further credence and legitimacy to the documents’ authenticity.

“Are they so dumb (till) they don’t realise by doing this, they’ve confirmed its authenticity?” asked Iqbal on X.
This was when a witty commenter took the middle path by defending the police for having no choice but to pursue an investigation since a report has been lodged except that “in this case, ironically, the horse has bolted the barn, hence shutting the barn door now ain’t gonna help much”.

Fast forward 48 hours later to yesterday (July 15), an anonymous MP who attended Monday’s (July 14) closed door meeting between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Harapan (PH) MPs had reportedly told the New Straits Times that Terrirudin had never been a candidate for the vacant Chief Justice role nor his name is on the list for the Court of Appeal President or Chief Judge of Malaya posts.
If this is indeed true and not a cover-up, does this mean that the leaked 30-page May 2025 JAC minutes is merely a fake document? If such is the case, then why classify the case under OSA in the first place?
Well, it seems that there is no ending except controversies of sorts standing (and still brewing) in the way of appointing a new Chief Justice which should by right be a walk in the park if all procedures and protocols are strictly adhered to. –  Focus Malaysia

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