KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 23): The High Court of Sabah and Sarawak has dismissed an application by Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) for a judicial commissioner (JC) to recuse himself from hearing a suit made by the State Government and Sarawak Comptroller of State Sales Tax (SST) against the national oil and gas company.

JC Christopher Chin, in his grounds of judgement, had also awarded costs of RM50,000 to the plaintiffs.

He however allowed Petronas to present their application for a stay of proceedings of the suit on Feb 5, pending an appeal that they would make at the Court of Appeal over Chin’s decision today.

The State Government and Sarawak Comptroller of SST filed a writ of summons and statement of claim against Petronas on Nov 21 to recover the SST owed by the company to the state.

Following this, Petronas through their lead counsel, Datuk Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, applied for Chin’s recusal from hearing the suit on Jan 14 on the grounds that the situation gave rise to an appearance of a conflict of interest, and that the application was made in the best interests of the administration of justice.

“Petronas reports to the Prime Minister under the Petroleum Development Act 1974. The Judicial Commissioner is a probationary judge who does not enjoy the security of tenure of confirmed judges. A Judicial Commissioner is confirmed as a judge when appointed to that position by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA). The YDPA acts on the advice of the Prime Minister,” Malik explained in a press statement.

In his judgement, Chin said: “Having weighed the eloquent arguments by counsel and considered whether there is a real danger of perceived bias, it is my considered view that I, and all Judicial Commissioners for that matter, are not likely to be perceived by the informed casual observer that I/we are suffering from any perceived notion of being biased just because our appointment/confirmation like the affairs of Petronas, are subjugated under the Prime Minister of Malaysia.”

Petronas is also seeking a judicial review to declare the SST imposed by the State Government as ultra vires to the Federal Constitution and null and void, with the hearing fixed from Feb 3 to 5 this year.