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

The terms of settlement of the lawsuit filed by former attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali against former prime minister Dr Mahathir and the government on the termination of his contract as AG are classified as confidential under the Official Secrets Act 1972.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said said that the civil case was 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 (Apandi) represented by Messrs Shukor Baljit and Partners, and the Attorney-General's Chambers, agreed that the terms of the settlement should be kept confidential and not disclosed to the public," she said in a written reply on the Parliament website yesterday.

Azalina was responding to a question from M Kulasegaran (PH-Ipoh Barat), who asked the prime minister to state the amount of compensation the government paid to Apandi when it settled the suit.

On April 13, 2022, the Kuala Lumpur High Court quashed the suit after the government agreed to settle the case without any admission of liability.

Apandi filed the suit on Oct 13, 2020, naming Mahathir and the government as the first and second defendants. He sought, among others, a declaration that the termination of his contract as attorney-general by the former prime minister in 2018 was invalid.

Apandi, who was a Federal Court judge before his appointment as attorney-general in 2015, had sought special damages of RM2,233,599.36, general and exemplary damages, costs and other reliefs deemed fit by the court.