APRIL 20- The Bar Council has referred senior lawyer Cecil Abraham (photo) to the Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board this month, for his alleged role in the second statutory declaration of P Balasubramaniam in 2008.
Its president Christopher Leong confirmed this.The complaint was on the counsel’s alleged misconduct in drafting the second SD.
“Yes, we have formally lodged a complaint to the Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board to investigate on Cecil,” said Leong when contacted by Malaysiakini, adding that it was lodged earlier this month. He said that the Bar took sometime before taking the action as it had to consult its lawyers on the matter.
The board would look into the merits of the allegations before investigating if they constituted violations, only then action would be taken if required.
If declared guilty, he or she has the right to appeal the disciplinary board decision. As with any case, it may take some time before the board arrives at a decision as with the case the council brought against another senior lawyer, VK Lingam, on a misconduct allegation following the video tape recording on his alleged role in fixing the appointment of judges. This probe has yet to be completed.
‘Najib asked Cecil to draft SD2′
It was reported last March 16 that a Malaysian Bar annual general meeting decided to refer Cecil, who is also the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission Operations Review Panel member, to the Disciplinary Board.
This follows his alleged role in Balasubramaniam’s second statutory declaration which the former private eye had said was drafted by an unknown lawyer. Later, in an interview carpet businessman Deepak Jaikishan identified the unknown person as Cecil. The senior lawyer has since refused to comment on the matter. The council had carried out an inquiry into the allegations on Cecil’s role in the matter.
Lawyer Americk Sidhu had revealed during the Bar Council’s annual general meeting that Cecil had met him and admitted that he was the lawyer who drafted the second SD and he had acted on Najib Abdul Razak’s instructions.
Americk said he had to break his promise to Cecil to expose this matter during the AGM to continue with Balasubramaniam’s quest for justice after the private eye died from a heart attack last month.
-MALAYSIA KINI
