In the last couple of day, the news cycle has been abuzz about an alleged leak and dissemination of what is believed to be confidential minutes from a Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) meeting.
The Police have already launched an investigation,
In a statement on Sunday (July 13), Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Datuk Sri Mohd Khalid Ismail confirmed that the police had received a report over the matter.
The case is being handled by the classified crime investigation unit under the Bukit Aman criminal investigation department.
Anyway, I have just sighted the leaked JAC minutes of meeting and from what I read in the 6 pages, it doesn't look like there is anything wrong or extraordinary in it.
It, in fact, looks like any other garden-variety minutes of meetings that I have seen.
The main issue of contention in the minutes is that the JAC chairperson has voiced out their disapproval to the nomination of one of the judges to become the next chief judge, but i don't see why the disapproval of one person in committee against that the committee is discussing is meaningful or significant.
The fact of the matter is that not everybody in a committee will agree with everything that is discussed in the committee.
Critics argue that the fact that one of the nominees for the top judge's position met the objection of the chairperson is significant , but I don't see why this is the case, or why the average citizen will see it that way either.
To Joe Public, there is no difference between all the judges and personalities that sit on JAC.
To us Joe Public, whether it is the chairperson or the nominee or anyone else who sit in the JAC committee, they are all just the same - neither is good or bad - they are all just a bunch of people who are sitting on a committee to select judges.
The reason that some people are finding the content of the leaked minutes to be scandalous is likely because they are looking it as if the chairperson is a hero(ine) while the nominee who met her objection is a villain, but this is not definitely not how the regular citizen sees it.
That the critics are seeing one person in the committee as a hero and the nominee as the villain is why they see something wrong or scandalous with the proceeding - but since the public don't see it the same way as the critic , so it unlikely that the public will share the concern of the critics, who are saying that the leaked minutes is proof that something unholy is happening with our judiciary .
In the end however, it is the public opinion that is important , because it is only the public opinion that will make anything happen.
That the public is unlikely to see what is wrong with the JAC meeting, but rather see everything in order, because the meeting was in order, with everything that was discussed in the meeting properly recorded and documented in the minutes, should tell us that regardless of how the critics huff and puff, nothing is going to happen in the matter of the judicial appointment because if the leaked minutes.
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