Settlement terms for Apandi’s suit against Mahathir sealed under OSA

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 15 — The terms of settlement of the lawsuit filed by former Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali against former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir and the government regarding the termination of his contract as Attorney General, are classified as confidential under the Official Secrets Act 1972.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said stated that the civil case had been settled out of court with the consent of the government without any admission of liability.

“During the settlement negotiations, the parties to this lawsuit, particularly the plaintiff (Mohamed Apandi) represented by Messrs. Shukor Baljit and Partners, and the Attorney-General’s Chambers had agreed that the terms of the settlement be kept confidential and not disclosed to the public ,” she said in a written reply posted on Parliament’s website yesterday.

Azalina said this in response to a question from M.Kulasegaran (PH-Ipoh Barat) who asked the Prime Minister to state the amount of compensation the government paid to Mohamed Apandi when the government settled the suit.

On April 13, 2022, the High Court here quashed the suit after the government agreed to settle the case without any admission of liability with the terms of the settlement not to be disclosed.

On Oct 13, 2020, Mohamed Apandi had filed the suit naming Dr Mahathir and the government, respectively as the first and second defendants, seeking, among others, a declaration that the termination of his contract as Attorney-General made by the former prime minister in 2018, as invalid.

Mohamed Apandi, who was a Federal Court Judge before being appointed Attorney-General in 2015, had sought special damages of RM2,233,599.36, general and exemplary damages, costs and other relief deemed fit by the court.

NMT as reported by Bernama