Someone needs public canning in Permatang Pasir

By Jeff Ooi,

Two interesting lessons that Umno No. 2 may need some education on.

1. Is Rohaizat Othman, BN's candidate for Permatang Pasir, really a hero who sacrificed his lawyer's status on behalf of his colleague?
   
2. Can the Bar Council strike off any practising lawyers without institutionalised due process?

And two interesting things happened today.

ONE: Yusri Isahak -- if Umno's version is to be believable -- is supposedly the former legal firm partner that caused Permatang Pasir's BN candidate Rohaizat Othman to be struck off the Bar Council's list of practising lawyer.

Today, he came out in the open and vehemently refuted claims by Umno leaders that Rohaizat was the 'hero' innocent from any wrongdoings.

TWO: Responding to the statement made by the Deputy Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, implying that the Bar Council had an ulterior motive in raising this issue, council secretary George Varughese said:

• The Bar Council is a statutory body established under the Legal Profession Act 1976 (LPA) “for the proper management of the affairs of the Malaysian Bar and for the proper performance of its functions”. It is responsible for all matters pertaining to the admission and regulation of advocates and solicitors in Peninsular Malaysia.
• The Disciplinary Board is an independent body established under Section 93 of the LPA. Members of the Disciplinary Board, which is currently chaired by Tan Sri Khalid Ahmad bin Sulaiman, are appointed by the Chief Judge of Malaya after consultation with the Bar Council.
• The Bar Council is authorised to speak on behalf of the Disciplinary Board on matters relating to disciplinary proceedings involving advocates and solicitors.

As such, the Bar Council's intention in issuing a press release entitled “Clarification regarding Rohaizat Othman” on Auguat stakest 18, 2009 was to respond to media inquiries on the matter related to Rohaizat.

The Bar Council stated that it regretted Muhyiddin's statement implying that the Bar Council had an ulterior motive in raising this issue.

Reading the two pieces as a whole, it's obvious that someone's credibility is seriously at stake.

By stating that a lawyer getting penalised for mishandling of client's fund is regarded as routine as getting a parking ticket is a dangerous position to take.

I look forward to some public canning in Permatang Pasir.