PETALING JAYA: A Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) will be set up to further scrutinise allegations in Tan Sri Tommy Thomas’ autobiography My Story: Justice in the Wilderness, says Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
“The government views seriously the allegations related to breaches of the professional responsibility of a highest position.
“This is because transparency and accountability are the foundations of trust by the rakyat towards the administration of justice and government institutions.
“The proposed terms of commission of the RCI will have a wider scope and not be limited to recommendations submitted by the Special Task Force (STF),” she said in a statement yesterday.
Azalina, who is in charge of Law and Institutional Reforms, said the decision to set up the RCI was among the suggestions contained in a report submitted by the STF and tabled at the Cabinet meeting yesterday.“After considering the suggestions proposed by the STF chaired by Datuk Seri Fong Joo Chung in his report, the Cabinet agreed, among others, for the proposed setting up of the RCI to scrutinise the matter more holistically,” she said.
Details on the terms of the RCI, its membership and duration would be proposed by the government later, she added.
“The aim of the RCI is to seek the truth and put forward recommendations to the government on reforming the nation’s legal institution, and not to find fault with any particular party,” she said.
On Sept 30, then Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob directed an immediate investigation into Thomas’ allegations in the book about, among others, the judiciary.The STF, chaired by Fong – Sarawak Legal Adviser and former state attorney general – identified 19 important issues in the book that required the government’s attention.
Published last year, Thomas’ memoirs came under much criticism, including by the Attorney General’s Chambers, lawyers, politicians and some of the members of public for allegedly containing elements of incitement, insults and defamation. More than a hundred police reports were lodged against Thomas over his book.
He was appointed attorney general under the Pakatan Harapan government in 2018 but resigned after the administration collapsed in February 2020.
