Tommy Thomas sues govt, task force over memoir probe

KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Sri Tommy Thomas has filed a suit against the government and the special task force that investigated his memoir entitled My Story: Justice in the Wilderness.

The former attorney general filed the suit through Messrs Tommy Thomas at the High Court here on Dec 4 after the High Court ordered the originating summons to be changed to a civil suit on Oct 2 so that it could be heard and resolved through a full trial.

In the new suit, Thomas as the plaintiff named the eight task force members – Datuk Seri Fong Joo Chung, Datuk Seri Hashim Paijan, Datuk Dr Junaidah Kamarruddin, Datuk Jagjit Singh Bant Singh, Datuk Shaharudin Ali, K. Balaguru, Farah Adura Hamidi, Mohd Najib Surip – and the government as first to ninth defendants.

BK reported that in his statement of claim, Thomas alleged that on Sept 30, 2022, the first to eighth defendants had produced and presented to the ninth defendant (the government) a special task force report on investigations into allegations contained in his memoir.

He alleged that the report, among others, stated that his offences when holding the position of attorney general (AG) were revealing state secrets and intervening in the judiciary and appointment of judges.

Thomas, who served as AG from June 2018 to February 2022, said then prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob instructed the related enforcement agencies to conduct further investigations into the possibility of misconduct on his behalf.

He said during a Barisan Nasional gathering in Bagan Datuk on Oct 17, 2022, Ismail Sabri openly announced that he had declassified the report as an official secret so that it could be used as political ammunition during the 15th General Election, and also asked the Law Minister at the time to publish the report.

Thomas said the special task force report was a document without legal authority as the appointment and terms of reference of the team was not supported by any written law and it was supposedly classified by the government as an official secret under the Official Secrets Act 1972.

As such, the plaintiff is seeking a declaration that the report on the book is illegal and violated Sections 499 and 500 of the Penal Code or Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, and breached the plaintiff’s right to have his reputation protected under Articles 5(1), 8(1), 13(1) of the Federal Constitution.

Case management has been set for Jan 30.