KUALA LUMPUR: The Parliament Legal Advisory Office needs time to give its answer on the postponement of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on the Agencies under the Prime Minister's Department's meeting on Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Tan Sri Azam Baki's share ownership issue.
PSC on the Agencies under the Prime Minister's Department chairman, Abdul Latiff Abdul Rahman (Pas-Kuala Krai) said the postponement was made since the issue surrounding Azam's stock trading scandal was "complicated".
He said the committee first needed to check with the Parliament Legal Advisory Office and this would take some time.
"After the Dewan Rakyat secretary (Dr Nizam Mydin Bacha Mydin) sent a letter to the MACC chief and he gave his reply, I then instructed the secretary to get the opinion of the Legal Advisory Office.
"Legal advisors need time to review this case because it is complicated and an answer could not be provided before Wednesday," he said in a statement last night.
According to Latiff, he has agreed to follow a suggestion made by several members of the PSC who believed that the meeting on Azam should be postponed.
"The postponement has been notified to all nine members of the committee," he said.
Nizam had, on Jan 12, issued a notice summoning Azam to attend the special meeting by the PSC on the Agencies under the Prime Minister's Department but was cancelled five days after that due to "legal issues".
A public outcry occurred in December last year after prominent academician Prof Dr Edmund Terence Gomez resigned from the MACC's Consultation and Corruption Prevention Panel, ostensibly because the panel refused to look into the matter.
Based on public records, Azam was a significant holder of warrants in the public-listed company Excel Force MSC Sdn Bhd as of March 2016.
During a press conference on Jan 5, Azam said his share trading account was used by his brother to purchase shares in 2015 and that he did not commit any criminal offence or abuse of power as alleged.
Azam said his superiors were informed when he allowed his brother to buy shares using his trading account in 2015. He was head of the MACC's investigation division at the time.
During the same press conference on Jan 5, Anti-Corruption Advisory Board (ACAB) chairman Tan Sri Abu Zahar Ujang had said the board found that Azam did not have any pecuniary or beneficial interest on the issue of purchased shares of the amount reported.
Abu Zahar also said the board was satisfied with the explanation given by Azam and that there was no crime committed or conflict of interest in the matter.
However, Abu Zahar's remark was rejected by other ACAB members who said that the board members did not express such an opinion and that it was entirely Abu Zahar's personal view.
Following that, the Securities Commission (SC) has opened an investigation on the matter and Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin had also said last week that the police were investigating Azam Baki according to the SC Act.
Yesterday (Tuesday), the SC said in a statement that it was unable to conclusively establish that a breach under section 25(4) Securities Central Depository Act 1991 (SICDA) has occurred.
"Section 25(4) SICDA provides that a trading account must be opened in the name of the beneficial owner or authorised nominee.
"The SC has concluded its enquiry and based on the evidence gathered, the SC is not able to conclusively establish that a breach under section 25(4) SICDA has occurred," the SC said in a statement.
