KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has fixed Jan 28 for decision in a leave application by lawyer Mahajoth Singh who is seeking to challenge two orders linked to his client Albert Tei that was issued to him by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
Justice Alice Loke set the date after hearing submissions from parties here on Tuesday (Jan 6).
Earlier, senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan, who appeared for the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC), told the court that MACC’s orders to examine Mahajoth and compel him to produce documents were exercises of power carried out in the course of a criminal investigation and therefore, not amenable by a judicial review.
“Such exercises (of power) in the course of a criminal investigation are not amenable to judicial review,” he said.
He urged the court to dismiss the leave application with costs.
Meanwhile, Mahajoth's lawyer N. Surendran, argued that MACC had breached statutory protection for privileged communication between a solicitor and client under Section 126 of the Evidence Act 1950 and Section 46(2) of the MACC Act.
The orders - dated Nov 29 and Nov 30 last year - were issued under Sections 30(1)(a) and 30(1)(b) of the MACC Act 2009.
It directed Mahajoth to produce information and documents belonging to his client, Tei, in connection with an ongoing MACC investigation.
Surendran submitted that the orders were invalid, improperly issued and unenforceable.
The lawyer further said that the documents sought by MACC were provided solely for the purpose of giving legal advice and for representing his client, and therefore should not be subject to disclosure.
Mahajoth, in his leave application, is seeking an order of certiorari to quash the notices requiring him to attend questioning and to produce documents under Sections 30(1)(a) and 30(1)(b) of the MACC Act dated Sept 29 and 30.
He is seeking an interim stay order from the High Court to restrain the MACC from enforcing the orders or taking any further action against him pending the full disposal of his judicial review application.
In court documents, Mahajoth stated he received the notices after Tei was detained by the MACC on Nov 28 and taken to the commission's headquarters in Putrajaya, allegedly without any reasonable explanation.
In December, last year, Tei has been charged in court for graft alongside former political secretary to the prime minister, Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin.
