Immediately reselling when criticised is not rational

'Lembaga Tabung Haji chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim was wrong to have followed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's advice to sell the plot of land the pilgrims' fund bought from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) as the fund's board should act independently'

Datuk Gopal Sri Ram

Wrong for Tabung Haji chairman to follow Najib’s advice to sell land, says ex-judge

excerpt: 

Lembaga Tabung Haji chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim was wrong to have followed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's advice to sell the plot of land the pilgrims' fund bought from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) as the fund's board should act independently, a retired judge said.

Datuk Gopal Sri Ram said the directors of a company or institution were by law required to be independent and to act in the best interests of their organisation.

"They should not act upon the dictation of a third party but let the board decide"

"If they do so and the institution suffers a loss, they will be personally liable," the former Federal Court judge told The Malaysian Insider following Tabung Haji's move to sell a 0.63ha piece of land it bought from 1MDB for RM188.5 million.

The purchase caused an uproar among the pilgrims' fund depositors and leaders from both side of the political divide because the deal involved the government-owned 1MDB, which is known to be sitting on a pile of debt.

In a hastily called press conference on Saturday, Azeez said that the fund had been advised by Najib to sell the land at the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) project in order to respect the "sensitivity" of Tabung Haji depositors.

Azeez said Najib had advised him to dispose of the land so that the fund's reputation would not be "tarnished" due to its business transaction with 1MDB.