Unfair ‘high and mighty’ Bank Negara disgraced in High Court ruling

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Bank Negara Malaysia disgraced!

Unfair ‘high and mighty’ Bank Negara disgraced in High Court ruling

KUALA LUMPUR, July 10, 2024: The High Court has ruled that Bank Negara (BNM)’s dismissal of former manager Y. Kohila, 48, was procedurally unfair.

Justice Ahmad Bache said in a 23-page written judgment released last week that the right to be heard must be upheld when an individual’s livelihood was at stake.

On May 9, Ahmad ordered the BNM to pay Kohila RM366,000 following an assessment of damages.

No News Is Bad News reproduces below a news report of BNM’s disgraceful management:

Bank Negara’s dismissal of manager procedurally unfair, says judge

V Anbalagan-10 Jul 2024, 05:23 PM

Justice Ahmad Bache says the right to be heard must be upheld when an individual’s livelihood is at stake.

Y Kohila was awarded RM366,000 in damages after the High Court ruled that she was wrongfully dismissed from employment with Bank Negara Malaysia seven years ago.

PETALING JAYA: A High Court said it allowed a former manager’s wrongful dismissal claim against Bank Negara Malaysia without going into the merits of the case due to procedural unfairness in the domestic inquiry and appeal processes.

Justice Ahmad Bache said the dismissal of Y Kohila, 48, violated the sacrosanct rules of natural justice as she was denied the right to be represented and heard prior to her dismissal from employment.

“The court had granted the plaintiff’s suit as the flaws were so serious and profound,” he said in a 23-page written judgment released last week.

Ahmad said the rules of natural justice, especially the right to be heard, must be upheld whenever an individual’s livelihood is at stake.

He said the right to be heard and to be able to defend oneself was not restricted only to the domestic inquiry stage but also extended to the appeal process.

On March 29 this year, Ahmad found the bank liable for wrongfully dismissing Kohila seven years ago purportedly for misconduct following her involvement in political activities.

She was accused of canvassing support for Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) and its officers in the 13th general election by drafting and publishing two press statements on the “Oppressed People’s Network” website, known as “Jerit”, on April 12, 2013.

Kohila, who joined the central bank in 2005, was also said to have canvassed support for a bid by PSM’s then secretary-general S Arutchelvan to contest the Selangor state assembly seat of Semenyih on April 17, 2013.

She was also accused of conducting herself in a manner not befitting her status as an employee of the central bank by participating in a public rally on May 1, 2016, and wearing an anti-GST shirt.

On May 9, Ahmad ordered the bank to pay Kohila RM366,000 following an assessment of damages.

The bank has filed an appeal against liability and quantum.

In his judgment, Ahmad said that Kohila had been put in a disadvantaged position even before the inquiry as she was not given access to documents used during the in-house proceedings.

He said Kohila was also denied the right to counsel and not extended with a list of the bank’s witnesses, which undermined her ability to cross-examine them during the domestic inquiry.

Ahmad also found that she was not allowed to call external witnesses although the charges related to activities outside the bank.

The judge noted that Kohila’s cross-examination of the bank’s witnesses had been repeatedly objected to and that, contrary to the bank’s domestic inquiry procedure, she was not called to testify in her own case.

The inquiry in May 2017 found her guilty of three counts of misconduct under the bank’s code of ethics whereupon the bank’s disciplinary committee terminated her services.

The judge noted that despite 12 years of loyal service, during which time she was recognised as a “results-driven officer” and promoted, Kohila was not invited to mitigate for a lesser punishment.

Ahmad said Kohila’s final avenue of appeal to the bank’s governor was “illusory” and a mere formality.

“At that point of time, she was no longer an employee of the bank. Logic dictates that such being the case, less consideration and little weight will be attached to that appeal,” he added.