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May 10, 08 6:41pm
http://malaysiakini.com/news/82652
DAP chairperson Karpal Singh had erred in law by citing a case that was unrelated to Islam and using it to criticise the Perak Sultan for ‘interfering’ with the transfer of Perak Religious Department director Jamry Sury.
MIC Youth chief S Vigneswaran said Karpal had cited Federal Territory Education Director and Others vs Loot Ting Yee (1982) which had nothing to do with Islamic affairs and was thus unrelated to Jamry’s case.
“How can Karpal, a distinguished lawyer of senior standing give example of an Education Department staff in a secular dispute with the case of Jamry which is directly within the scope of the religious department under the Sultan,” said Vigneswaran in a statement today.
Vigneswaran stressed that any matters pertaining to Islamic affairs, Islamic bodies or agencies, including the appointment and transfers of officers or staff involved in such bodies is the prerogative of the sultan. He claimed that Karpal had infringed the rights of the monarch as enshrined in Article 3 (2) of Part I of the Federal Constitution which reads:
“In every State other than States not having a Ruler the position of the Ruler as the Head of the religion of Islam in his State in the manner and to the extent acknowledged and declared by the Constitution, all rights, privileges, prerogatives and powers enjoyed by him as Head of that religion, are unaffected and unimpaired…”
Cheap publicity
Karpal had been the lone voice criticising the Perak Sultan for ordering Perak Menteri Besar Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin to reinstate Jamry after an initial transfer order. A veteran lawyer and Bukit Gelugor parliamentarian, Karpal on Monday said that the matter was purely a matter of the executive exercising their right over civil servants and the royalty should not have interfered.
Following this, numerous police reports had been lodged against Karpal for allegedly breaching sedition laws and insulting the sultan.
Vigneswaran said Karpal’s statement was a move to create cheap publicity and challenged Pakatan Rakyat coalition to state their stand on the matter.
