KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's lawyer has voiced his objection against the appointment of former chief justice Tun Md Raus Sharif as the head of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks, and South Ledge issue, citing a conflict of interest.
Rafique Rashid said Md Raus' appointment was a "gross violation of natural justice" as the retired judge is an interested party in the issue.
He said in 2017, Dr Mahathir filed a judicial review in the Kuala Lumpur High Court to challenge the legality of Md Raus' appointment as an additional judge to the Federal Court because he had reached the age of 66 years and six months
"(Then) on May 15, 2018, Md Raus met Dr Mahathir who was then the prime minister to express his intention to resign as chief justice."
Md Raus then sent a letter of resignation to the then Yang di-Pertuan Agong on June 7, 2018, which was approved by the King on June 11, 2018.
"As such, the appointment of Tun Md Raus Sharif as Chairman of RCI Batu Puteh has created a real danger of bias in which truth and justice will not prevail.
"The RCI should be seen as clean and impartial so that the public will not question the credibility of the same."
Rafique said in the interest of fairness and justice, the government should replace the RCI chairman with another person who is not conflicted.
He said Md Raus could also choose to recuse himself from the RCI in the "pursuit of truth".
"Failing which, we would be inclined to advise our client to decline to participate in the RCI," he said in a statement today.
On Feb 14, Yang Di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim gave his consent to the establishment of an RCI into the issue.
In 2022, then-prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said there was possible negligence and oversight on Dr Mahathir Mohamad's part over the Batu Puteh claim.
Then, Ismail said the Cabinet was told by the special task force for the case that Mahathir may have erred in withdrawing an application to review the International Court of Justice's award of Batu Puteh's sovereignty to Singapore.
Dr Mahathir subsequently said the withdrawal of the appeal was based on former attorney-general Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali's officers' advice.
In 2008, the ICJ ruled that Batu Puteh belonged to Singapore, Middle Rocks to Malaysia, and South Ledge, to the state in the territorial waters in which it is located.
In June 2017, Malaysia applied to the ICJ to request an interpretation of the judgment.
In 2018, the Pakatan Harapan government, under the leadership of Dr Mahathir, withdrew the application.