Shaharudin Ali said without a “clear statutory basis” such committees risk being struck down before they can even begin their work.

“And when the subject of investigation is as sensitive as the head of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the consequences of procedural missteps are magnified,” he said in a post on X, referring to Azam Baki.

Shaharudin was a member of a special task force that was set up in 2022 to probe Tommy Thomas’s claims of excessive interference by the executive in the judicial system and selective prosecution.

Thomas argued that the formation and existence of the task force had no legal basis. The task force was looking into the claims he made in his book, “My Story: Justice in the Wilderness”.

He subsequently sued the task force and the government, alleging that their publication of a report on his memoir was a breach of law and his constitutional rights.

Shaharudin today said the formation of the task force to probe Thomas’s claims, including the appointment of its members, lacked a proper legal foundation.

He added that if the government wishes to investigate Azam, it must do so through mechanisms that can withstand judicial scrutiny.

“Otherwise, we risk repeating the same cycle: public controversy, hurried committee formation, legal challenge, and eventual collapse. That serves neither justice nor public confidence,” Shaharudin said.

The formation of the task force to look into claims involving Azam was announced on Friday. It comprises Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar as chairman, Treasury secretary-general Johan Mahmood Merican, and the director-general of the public services department, Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz.

Bloomberg had reported that Azam held 17.7 million shares (1.7%) in Velocity Capital Bhd and was still listed as a shareholder in records kept by the Companies Commission of Malaysia.

Azam is alleged to have breached a 2024 government circular limiting civil servants to holding no more than 5% of paid-up capital or RM100,000 in value, whichever is lower, in Malaysian-incorporated companies.

In response to the claims made against him, Azam said the purchase of the shares was declared, adding that the shares were also disposed of last year.

His lawyers have sent a letter of demand to Bloomberg over its report, seeking RM100 million in damages. Bloomberg has stood by its reporting.