KUALA LUMPUR: The night of May 9 last year was certainly filled with tension and anxiety for Malaysian Bar president George Varughese as the general election results trickled in.
“It was a nail-biting election but for the Bar, the implications were huge if the Barisan Nasional (BN) retained power,” he said.
The reason, the then government had made preparations to amend the Legal Profession Act that would have greatly diluted the independence of the Bar and affected the role of lawyers in this country.
“The burden would have been on me and the Bar Council if the changes to the law had taken place soon after,” Varughese told the media in possibly his last official interview as president.
Varughese will leave office after the Bar’s annual general meeting on Saturday.
Against all odds, he said, the Pakatan Rakyat ousted the BN from federal power, after 61 years.
“I was elated as it gave hope to Malaysians because the new government stressed on upholding the rule of law,” he said.
There were other reasons too as to why he was worried about a BN win.
He said the relationship between the Bar and the attorney-general (AG) then, Mohamed Apandi Ali, was frosty.
“We had filed a judicial review to challenge the AG’s prosecutorial powers after he exonerated ex-prime minister Najib Razak over the 1MDB fiasco and the RM2.6 billion found in his private bank accounts,” he said.
He said the Bar had written to Apandi to meet him over official matters but nothing came out of it.
Next was the Bar’s strong stand when it opposed the decision of the government to retain former chief justice Raus Sharif and Court of Appeal president Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin by appointing them as additional judges.
“There was very little communication with the Bench when the Bar, together with the Advocates Association of Sarawak, went to court as we felt the appointments were against provisions in the Federal Constitution,” he said.
Varughese said the relationship was so bad that the Bar was not even invited to witness the judges’ elevation ceremonies.
Early last year, Varughese said, the Bar stayed away from participating in the annual official opening of the legal year as there were attempts to stop him from speaking.
“We did not attend the event for the first time since 2010 because we refused to be muzzled,” he said.
Varughese, who had served in the Selangor Bar Committee and Bar Council in various capacities over the last 20 years, said he felt relieved when a new government took over on May 9.
Firstly, he said the appointment of former lawyer Tommy Thomas as AG helped to mend the fence between the Bar and the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
“Our strained relationship improved by leaps and bounds as there were fruitful discussions to make the Bar an independent regulatory body without fear of speaking out,” he said.
He said the good relationship with the judiciary was also restored following the appointment of Richard Malanjum as chief justice last July.
“We have been invited for many meetings with all office bearers in the judiciary. There was much consultation before reforms were implemented and we welcome the changes,” he said.
Varughese said the Bar returned to participate in the annual legal year ceremony and he was allowed to express himself although there was a time limit.
“But I was glad the CJ responded to my speech positively as he kept an open mind,” he said.
Recalling his two-year tenure, Varughese, who has been a lawyer close to 30 years, described it as a “close shave encounter”.
“The destiny of the Bar would have taken a different course if not for the peaceful and orderly outcome through the ballot box,” he said.
Varughese said the new government should be given at least a year to implement legal reforms as promised in its election manifesto.
“Be patient as there will be several rounds of consultation with stakeholders. Moreover, most ministers are new in their portfolios,” he said, adding that Putrajaya must move faster after the first year.