KUCHING: An application by Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) for a stay of proceedings of a lawsuit filed by Sarawak Comptroller of State Sales Tax (SST) and the state government was dismissed by the High Court.
Judicial Commissioner Christopher Chin Soo Yin said the High Court had fixed March 13 for hearing the case in which the state is seeking to recover RM1.3 billion in unpaid SST and penalties from the company.
He said the special circumstances advanced by Petronas especially on the refusal to stay would render the appeal nugatory and if the appeal against his (Chin's) refusal to recuse was successful, the judicial time and resources would have been wasted as well as legal costs and the time of the counsel, had been taken into consideration.
"There is no basis for the perceived bias in the case. For me to now stay would tantamount to acknowledging my reasoning for refusing to the recusal earlier was flawed.
"As my earlier decision not to recuse is based substantially on the protection of the institution of the judiciary, it must necessarily follow that I now refuse this application to stay.
"As I am bound by my oath of office, I would need to serve my one and only boss, which is the Rule of Law,” Chin said.
Petronas was represented by counsel Datuk Malik Imtiaz Sarwar and Alvin Chong, and State Attorney General Datuk Talat Mahmood Abdul Rashid, state legal counsel Datuk JC Fong, Saferi Ali and Voon Yan Sin, appeared for the Sarawak government.
Last week, Petronas sought for a stay of proceedings, pending their appeal to the Court of Appeal over Chin’s decision on Jan 23 to dismiss the company’s request for his (Chin) recusal from hearing the suit.
Petronas applied for Chin’s recusal from hearing the suit on the grounds that the situation gave rise to an appearance of a conflict of interest.
Malik in a statement explained that the Judicial Commissioner was a probationary judge, who would only be confirmed as a judge when appointed to that position by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA), on the advice of the Prime Minister.
Meanwhile, Petronas reports to the Prime Minister under the Petroleum Development Act 1974.