KUALA LUMPUR, April 12 — The Federal Court today refused to release the Court Recording Transcription (CRT) to lawyer Arun Kasi in contempt proceedings heard in open court, but no reasons were given for the refusal.
In a statement today, Arun claimed the refusal would put him in a disadvantageous position when seeking legal advice for the proceedings.
He said this includes making an application for review of the two interlocutory decisions respectively made on March 13 and 28.
“The Court has today replied refusing to release the CRT recording. However, the letter specifically refers to the CRT recording on 28 March 2019 and is silent on the record for 13 March 2019,” said Arun, in reference to letters he wrote to the Court between March 9 and 19, requesting for the notes of proceedings and CRT recordings.
Arun is facing contempt charges for allegedly scandalising the judiciary in two articles he wrote, published on an NGO’s website.
Meanwhile, Arun said he has yet to receive a response to the letter he wrote to Chief Justice (CJ) Tan Sri Richard Malanjum, asking for his view on Attorney General (AG) Tommy Thomas’s speech at the opening of the Legal Year 2019.
“I am confident that the CJ will reply despite the near juncture of his retirement and that this reply will be a great legacy to the legal fraternity and public, as it is about freedom of speech and the legal boundaries to it and about equality before the law,” he said in the statement.
Arun wrote the letter to Malanjum, who retired from the post this afternoon, on April 7.
