Call for commission of inquiry into the allegation of the victimisation and forced resignation of one of the nation’s  most qualified judges Justice Dr. Visu Sinnadurai


Media Statement
by Lim Kit Siang
 

(Petaling Jaya, Friday): Former Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has made a very serious allegation about the victimisation and the forced resignation of one of the most qualified judges in the country, Justice Dr. Visu Sinnadurai.

Making his own submission on Tuesday after discharing his lawyers in his application that the Chief Justice, Tun Eusoff Chin should withdraw himself from hearing the Federal Court appeal in connection with the issue as to whether the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad should be subpoenaed to testify in his sodomy trial, Anwar referred to the victimisation and forced resignation of Justice Dr. Visu Sinnadurai from the bench.

Anwar said he had  personal knowledge when he was Deputy Prime Minister  of the victimisation through "uncouth disciplinary methods" and "occasional transfers to Muar and finally to Tawau."

This is the first time that the allegation of the victimisation and forced resignation of Justice Dr. Visu Sinnadurai had been made public, although it had been circulated through the legal grapevine for quite some time.

It is a great loss to the nation and the  judiciary that an eminent jurist with such impeccable credentials find service on the bench so uncongenial that he decided to resign and later joined the World Bank -  a sad commentary on the system of governance in Malaysia which   cannot keep the best and brightest inside the country, whether the judiciary or other branches of public service.  This does not bode well for the success of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) and the nation’s plan to make the quantum leap into the information society and knowledge economy which must finally depend on brain power.

A commission of inquiry  should be established into the serious allegation of the victimisation and  the forced resignation of one of the nation’s  most qualified judges Justice Dr. Visu Sinnadurai.

The inquiry should also inquire whether the victimisation of Visu in the judiciary was related to a memorandum on the judiciary including Proposals for Reform on the Judiciary  he had submitted to the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister.

According to Anwar in the Federal Court on Tuesday, the Visu Memorandum on Judicial Reforms emphatically stated:
 

(4/8/2000)


*Lim Kit Siang - DAP National Chairman