KUALA LUMPUR: Bar Council chairman Lim Chee Wee and its secretary Tony Woon Yeow Thong are no longer parties in a suit filed by a lawyer challenging a notice to call for its extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on May 11.
High Court Judge Datuk John Louis O’Hara struck out the suit against Lim who is also Malaysian Bars president and Woon that was filed by Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz after granting his application not to proceed with the suit against the two.
Mohd Khairul Azam had filed the suit on May 16, naming the Malaysian Bar, Bar Council, Lim and Woon as defendants to seek a declaration to deem the notice dated May 4 to call for the EGM null and void and not in accordance with the Legal Profession Act 1976.
With this, the only party remaining in the suit are the Malaysian Bar and Bar Council.
Counsel Tan Sri Dr Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman and counsel Shaharudin Ali who represented Mohd Khairul Azam told reporters that the plaintiff could not proceed with the suit against Lim and Woon as they are acting on behalf of the Bar Council.
“The judge struck out the suit with no order as to costs,” Shaharudin said, adding that dropping the two defendants in the suit would not affect the plantiff’s case. The court also fixed Sept 25 to hear Malaysian Bar and Bar Council’s application to strike out the suit.
In his statement of claim, Mohd Khairul Azam, who is a member of the Malaysian Bar and also the Bar Council, alleged that the notice calling for the EGM was issued less than seven days before May 11, adding that members were also not properly notified.
He claimed that Woon had issued the notice for the EGM on May 4, without stating if the Bar Council had decided at their meeting earlier that a decision was reached to hold the EGM.
He contended that the motion discussed at the EGM had contravened the Sedition Act 1948 as it had discussed matters which were outside the jurisdiction of laws governing the defendants.
Mohd Khairul Azam claimed that members of the Bar were prejudiced by the motion and that its 14,189 members were in a scandal that was being openly discussed by the public, adding that their professionalism was being mocked. — Bernama