Alarm raised after Anwar's lawyer appointed to bench amid concerns over ex-staff's sexual assault suit

Concerns have been raised over the independence of the judiciary following the appointment of a lawyer to the High Court bench, just months after he represented Anwar Ibrahim in a controversial application for immunity from being sued by a 33-year-old youth who accused the prime minister of sexual assault.

K Raja Segaran was appointed a judicial commissioner of the High Court, in what legal pressure group Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) described as "highly inappropriate and adverse to the perception of an independent judiciary", citing Anwar's power to appoint judges.

"Why did the prime minister choose to appoint his personal lawyer, knowing full well that this will affect public perception and confidence in the judiciary?" asked LFL director Zaid Malek, referring to a constitutional provision giving the prime minister wide powers to recommend names of judges which the Agong "is bound to accept".

A judicial commissioner is a non-permanent judicial officer who has the same powers as a judge to preside over cases in the High Court.

Zaid challenged the government to be transparent about the appointment by stating who included Raja Segaran's name in the list submitted to the palace.

"The public is entitled to be given this information. The release of this information will be in the public interest as it will allay public concerns. In this case, transparency of what went on in the process of appointment is crucial to preserve public confidence."

Anwar is being sued by Yusoff Rawther, his former research assistant, who alleges that the PKR leader sexually assaulted him in October 2018, just days before he won the Port Dickson by-election that ended a ban from active politics after he was granted a royal pardon for his 2014 sodomy conviction.

The suit was scheduled to go to trial in June last year, but has since been indefinitely postponed pending the outcome of an unprecedented application filed by Anwar seeking a declaration by the Federal Court that, as prime minister, he should be given immunity from civil suits "in respect of alleged private acts predating his appointment".

Raja Segaran's appointment also follows several other developments that have raised concerns about a fair trial for Yusoff, who is still waiting for police to question the prime minister and his former aide, Farhash Wafa Salvador, over a claim that they orchestrated drugs and firearms charges against him, for which he was acquitted last year.

These include Anwar's move to again change lawyers representing him in the sexual assault suit just as the trial date nears, and the transfer of High Court judge Roz Mawar Rozain, who last year dismissed the prime minister's immunity bid.

Zaid said Raja Segaran's appointment raises issues of patronage in the appointment of judges, and urged that the prime minister's role in judicial appointments be entirely removed, a call once made by Malay rulers just days after Anwar assumed office in 2022.

"As long as the appointment of judges rests with the PM, the integrity of the judiciary will always be in question. This latest episode involving the judicial appointment of the PM’s personal lawyer, must be taken as a wake-up call for the Madani government to table a bill in Parliament to remove the PM’s power of judicial appointments," he added.

In November 2022, the Conference of Rulers proposed stripping the prime minister of the power to appoint five representatives to JAC.

Four of the nine members of JAC are senior judges, while the remaining five are appointed by the prime minister.

In July last year, hundreds of lawyers marched in Putrajaya to the Prime Minister's Office to protest executive interference in judicial appointments.