After five days, Bar Council now questions credibility of report on Tommy Thomas

SHAH ALAM - After days of keeping mum over a damning report detailing the "shenanigans" of former attorney-general Tan Sri Tommy Thomas, the Bar Council finally ended their silence by questioning the integrity of the task force probing the matter.

Bar president Karen Cheah questioned the legitimacy of the task force as she believed that the matter should have instead be probed through a royal commission of inquiry.

“The special task force was established by the executive, thereby raising the issue of partiality and whether it can be truly independent," said Cheah in a statement last night.

Cheah's responded as such after Caretaker Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob remarked that it was peculiar for the council to keep quiet over the matter give its penchant in uphlolding the rule of law.

She also insisted that the report which was declassified on October 21 has been politicised in light of 15th General Election.

Nonetheless, the task force concluded that Tommy lacked the experience to head the institution, with the only remedy from him being the appointments of external lawyers.

"Although Tommy was critical of what he perceived as the lack of experience of legal officers in certain areas of the law and their lack of commitment in their work, he did not take or initiate any measures to remedy these shortcomings. The only measure he took was to appoint external lawyers of his choice at the federal government’s expense,” states the report.

The book, published on or about last January 30, caused a public uproar resulting in some 244 reports lodged by various individuals and groups against Tommy and the book.

Among the things stated in the over 200-page report were the appointment of judges, alleged lack of competence in commercial law at the Court of Appeal, and professional ethics.

The report is currently accessible on the legal affairs division of the Prime Minister's Department website.