Bid by Karpal’s widow to include fresh evidence struck out

PUTRAJAYA: A five-man bench of the Federal Court yesterday dismissed an application by the widow of the late Karpal Singh to include fresh evidence in a sedition appeal.

Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Datuk David Wong Dak Wah who led the bench said the introduction of the affidavit of Court of Appeal judge Datuk Hamid Sultan Abu Backer was not material in the sedition appeal.

Lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo, who is also Karpal Singh’s daughter, told reporters that the court felt that the introduction of Hamid Sultan’s affidavit was premature at this stage on several reasons.

She said the reasons being that there was an ongoing police investigation into the affidavit and the government had said it will set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry and the Attorney-General’s Chambers had also filed an application in the High Court to expunge Hamid Sultan’s affidavit.

Sangeet Kaur, also told reporters that Wong, in his ruling, had said it was open for parties to reconsider their positions after the investigations were completed.

Karpal Singh’s widow, Gurmit Kaur, the substitute appellant, had filed an application last week to include the 65-paged affidavit of Hamid Sultan as new evidence.

In his affidavit filed in support of a lawsuit filed by Sangeet Kaur against Chief Justice Tan Sri Richard Malanjum, Hamid Sultan had alleged that there were judicial interference.

The other judges on the bench were Justices Tan Sri Ramly Ali, Datuk Rohana Yusuf, Datuk Setia Mohd Zawawi Salleh and Tan Sri Idrus Harun.

The sedition appeal is set for hearing before a seven-member bench on March 28.

Karpal Singh, a former DAP national chairman was convicted and fined RM4,000 in early 2014 for questioning the late Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah’s action in removing Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin as the mentri besar of Perak in 2009.

In May 2016, the Court of Appeal, in a 2-1 majority ruling, upheld Karpal Singh’s conviction but allowed his appeal to reduce the fine from RM4,000 to RM1,800.

Karpal Singh died in an accident along the NorthSouth Expressway near Gua Tempurung on April 17, 2014.

Sangeet Kaur told reporters that the main reason to proceed with the appeal is to clear her father’s name.