Sivakumar subpoenas Bar reps to make case against Ganesan

Ousted Perak Speaker V. Sivakumar has subpoenaed three people from the Malaysian Bar to attend the Oct 28 state assembly sitting and bring with them documents proving why Speaker Datuk R. Ganesan should be disqualified from his post.

The Tronoh assemblyman, as well as all his colleagues from Pakatan Rakyat (PR), have been harping on Ganesan’s validity as the state’s Speaker for the past two months and have claimed that the latter had infringed Article 36A of the Perak Constitution.

They said Ganesan had failed to resign as a practising lawyer by Aug 7, three months after his appointment as a Speaker on May 7, which they claimed was already illegal.

Sivakumar issued the subpoena this evening via facsimile transmission to the offices of Bar Council president Ragunath Kesavan, vice-president Lim Chee Wee and secretary George Varughese.

The writs ordered the three to be present, personally or through agents, at the state assembly hall at 10am on Oct 28 and the subsequent days of the sitting until its adjournment.

It also ordered the three to bring with them Ganesan’s Notice of Cessation of Practice as an advocate and solicitor dated Aug 17, 2009, his statutory declaration on the same date and any other documents from the Bar’s records pertaining to his resignation as a practising lawyer.

When contacted however, Ragunath said he would not be in the country during the day of the sitting and hence, would not be able to adhere to the subpoena.

He also said there was a question mark over whether Sivakumar had the jurisdiction to summon witnesses into the state assembly hall.

“Firstly, there is the question mark over his legality as the Speaker. And then, even if he were the legal Speaker, I am unsure if he has the power to call for witnesses to enter the state assembly hall to give evidence on a certain matter.”

“Unless they are initiating some kind of contempt proceedings, I do not think a Speaker has the right to issue such subpoenas,” he told The Malaysian Insider when contacted this evening.

He added that he would reserve his comment on whether the Malaysian Bar would send agents into the state assembly sitting and adhere to the subpoena since the matter needed to be studied first.

“We will seek advice on this before deciding what to do. We need to see if a Speaker has the power under the rules of the state assembly or within the context of the Perak Constitution to issue subpoenas such as these,” said Ragunath.

Meanwhile, Ragunath also confirmed Sivakumar’s worst fear – that the Bar had indeed accepted Ganesan’s resignation as a lawyer as at Aug 6, 2009.

According to the Bar Council’s records, Ganesan had faxed a letter on Aug 13 which stated that he had already quit as a lawyer as of Aug 6. The letter, despite being faxed on Aug 13, was dated Aug 6.

“We have accepted it as such because this is a practice that we have used for all lawyers, not just Ganesan, meaning that if you fax us a letter on Aug 15, telling us that you quit on Aug 1, we will accept it as you had quit on Aug 1. We will give you the benefit of the doubt,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

Ragunath added that an offence would have been committed only if Ganesan had actually resumed his practice between the date of his letter (Aug 13) and the date that he claimed he had ceased his duties (Aug 6).

“If he, for example, attended a court hearing, or signed any documents in his capacity as a legal practitioner, or if his office was open and running, then one can say that he had committed an offence,” said Ragunath.

As it stands however, he added, the Bar’s opinion was that Ganesan’s resignation on Aug 6 was valid.

The matter has been heavily contended by PR lawmakers, who claim that since Ganesan had only notified the Bar of his resignation on Aug 13, he had missed his Aug 7 deadline.

Furthermore, records also show that Ganesan had only filed his Notice of Cessation of Practice as an advocate and solicitor and a statutory declaration on Aug 17, 10 days past his deadline.

A check by PR’s lawyer Chan Kok Keong in August showed that Ganesan, with his firm Messrs Ganesan and Associates, was still a legal practitioner with a valid Sijil Annual and Practising Certificate as of Aug 11, 2009.

Meanwhile, besides summoning the Bar’s representatives, Sivakumar has also invited other guests to attend the Oct 28 sitting, namely individuals from the Perak Bar Council, Suhakam, Hakam, Transparency International and several other non-governmental organisations.

In a press conference at the Perak PR headquarters here this evening, state PR Backbenchers Club chairman Drs Khalil Idham Lim Abdullah, who read out Sivakumar’s statement, said that the invitations would be sent out by today.

Whether or not the group would be allowed into the state assembly hall is another matter altogether.

The Malaysian Insider understands that no outsiders, including spouses, personal assistants, political secretaries, friends or even MPs, will be allowed into the assembly hall on Oct 28.

On whether PR assemblymen planned to table any emergency motion during the assembly to question the legality of Ganesan’s position as the Speaker, Khalil Idham said the matter had not yet been decided.


comments

The fact that Ganesan never denied that the Sergent-at-arm had been replaced by a group of samsengs shows that Nizar's claims and fears are very likely true and I hope those invited or subpoenaed will make an effort to attend.