JUDGMENT

Richard Malanjum CJ (Sabah & Sarawak):

[1] Before us is an application by Raja Petra bin Kamarudin (Raja Petra) pursuant to r. 137 of the Rules of the Federal Court 1995 (RFC).

[2] It is connected to the pending appeal by the Minister of Home Affairs (Criminal Appeal No. 05-130-2008(B) and the cross-appeal by Raja Petra (Criminal Appeal No. 05-143-2008).

[3] The hearing of the appeal and cross-appeal came before a three-member panel consisting of Nik Hashim, Augustine Paul and Zulkefli FCJJ on 11 February 2009.

[4] At the outset of the hearing learned counsel for Raja Petra applied to recuse Augustine Paul FCJ. Basically the ground relied on was that there might be a real danger of bias on the part of the learned Judge since Raja Petra was critical of him in his website in 2001. It was also submitted that the judge had dismissed the habeas corpus application of Raja Petra in 2001 which was subsequently allowed by the Federal Court.

[5] A short adjournment was therefore applied to enable the filing of a formal application on the recusal. Initially the panel was inclined to dismiss the application for adjournment. However, on further consideration an adjournment was al