'Extraordinary and barbaric': Lawyer tears into MACC's ex parte move to freeze Na'imah's assets
KUALA LUMPUR: Senior lawyer Datuk Dr Gurdial Singh Nijar has criticised the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for obtaining an ex parte order to freeze millions of assets linked to the family of the late Tun Daim Zainuddin, calling the move a breach of natural justice.
An ex parte application is a legal request made to the court by one party without notifying or involving the other party.
Guardial, who appeared for Daim's widow Toh Puan Na'imah Abdul Khalid, said the prosecution's failure to name a respondent in the asset-freezing application was not only procedurally flawed, but also denied the affected parties a fair hearing.
"I am perplexed and disappointed that a body like the MACC would proceed in this manner.
"The person affected must be named. You are effectively crippling someone by freezing their assets for a year," he said during proceedings before judge K. Muniandy here today.
Gurdial is submitting in his bid to quash MACC's ex parte application to freeze more than RM544 million in investment funds in Singapore belonging to Na'imah and her family members.
When met after the hearing, Gurdial described the application as extraordinary, saying it could take the justice system "back to barbaric times".
"The person holding the property is directly affected and the order effectively prohibits them from dealing with the property.
"Before such an order can be made, the individual must be named as a party and be given the opportunity to respond."
MACC had earlier argued that preliminary investigations showed that the assets were derived from undeclared income in Malaysia and were being held under Na'imah's and her family members' names through various investments in foreign currency.
MACC Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki reportedly said eight new investigation papers related to Daim's family had been opened as part of the probe into properties valued at over RM2 billion.
He said the commission had been conducting a probe into Daim since February 2023 and had opened several investigation papers.
Daim died on Nov 12 last year at age 86.
Following his passing, the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court discharged and acquitted him of charges related to failing to comply with a notice under Section 254 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
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