Former High Court judge seeks justice 30 years after forced resignation over corruption claims

SHAH ALAM – More than three decades after being forced to resign for exposing alleged corruption in the judiciary, a former High Court judge is calling on the government to deliver long-overdue justice and restore his denied rights.

Datuk Syed Ahmad Idid Syed Abdullah Idid, who blew the whistle in 1996 through a confidential letter, said he has since been stripped of his pension, salary and other entitlements, including a travel allowance owed after six years of service.

Datuk Syed Ahmad Idid Syed Abdullah Idid believes parties with pending court cases may have influenced top officials to remove him from the bench. Photo by SINAR/ASRIL ASWANDI SHUKOR

“They also did not pay the replacement leave I was entitled to, even though I was forced to resign.

“I did not receive any form of compensation, let alone a pension. The senior figures at the time remained silent, and not a single judge spoke up.

“I hope the government will reconsider this and return the rights that have been denied to me for over 30 years,” he said during the Sinar Harian Interviu programme recently.

Syed Ahmad Idid explained the letter, written to the then Chief Justice and shared with five senior government officials, was intended to prompt action.

However, it was allegedly photocopied and distributed as an anonymous circular, leading to a police investigation and ultimately, his resignation.

“Someone else turned it into a poison-pen letter, but I was the one punished,” he said.

At the time, Malaysia did not have a whistleblower protection law, leaving him exposed to political pressure.

He believes parties with pending court cases may have influenced top officials to remove him from the bench.

Shortly after the probe began, he suffered a heart attack and feared imprisonment.

When instructed by the Chief Justice to resign, he complied out of concern for his health and safety.

“People were dying in lock-ups. I thought, if that happens to me, it’s over,” he said.

Following his resignation, he said all compensation and benefits were cut, including travel entitlements and replacement leave owed to him.

For years, he remained silent, believing it was improper for a judge to speak publicly, especially while colleagues and the media avoided him.

Later, under the administration of Malaysia’s fifth Prime Minister, the late Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, he was appointed to roles including the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration director, though no formal apology or reinstatement was ever offered.

Support for his claims was recently affirmed by retired Court of Appeal judge Datuk KC Vohrah in his book Finding a Footing in The Law, which verified the authenticity of Syed Ahmad Idid’s 1996 allegations.

“The truth is now documented. There’s no excuse for the government to remain silent,” he said.

Despite the hardship, he viewed the experience as a blessing in disguise, though he remains convinced that political interference in the judiciary was at the heart of his removal.

“This should never have happened if the judiciary had been treated as an independent institution, free from politics,” he said.

Now, at 87, Syed Ahmad Idid is asking the government to formally clear his name and restore the pension and entitlements owed to him.

He stated that all he is asking for now is justice and the restoration of the rights that were denied to him for more than 30 years.