High Court annuls reopening of Bank Jakarta
JAKARTA (JP): The State Administrative High Court ordered the Jakarta State Administrative Court to "disregard" its earlier by- verdict which allowed Bank Jakarta to reopen pending a definitive verdict, a lawyer said yesterday.
The government's lawyer, A. Zen Umar Purba, said the high court had the authority to overrule the State Administrative Court based on Article 52 of Law No. 5/1986 which states that the State Administrative High Court has the authority to supervise, warn and reprimand the lower court.
Purba told The Jakarta Post that the State Administrative High Court considered the by-sentence a breach of State Administrative Court procedures.
The high court's decision was issued in a letter which read: "The chief judge of the Jakarta State Administrative Court is ordered to disregard the by-verdict."
The letter was signed by the head of the State Administrative High Court Marcus Lande.
The government on Nov. 1 liquidated 16 private insolvent banks, including Bank Jakarta.
But Bank Jakarta filed a lawsuit at the Jakarta State Administrative Court demanding the government revoke its decision and that while the suit was in process it be allowed to remain in operation.
On Tuesday, the Jakarta State Administrative Court issued a by-verdict allowing Bank Jakarta to remain open while its case was being deliberated.
The government, through their lawyers representing the Ministry of Finance and the Governor of Bank Indonesia, immediately appealed the by-verdict Wednesday to the State Administrative High Court.
The appeal was upheld yesterday, thereby nullifying the earlier by-verdict which allowed Bank Jakarta to reopen.
Purba said the letter had been forwarded to the Supreme Court, Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad, Governor of Bank Indonesia Soedradjad Djiwandono and Bank Jakarta's board of directors.
"This was like a letter from a superior to his or her subordinate," Purba said.
The chief of the Jakarta State Administrative Court could not be contacted for comment yesterday.
The government issued its decision to liquidate the 16 banks after seeking a bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) following the rupiah's sharp decline against the U.S. dollar.
Probosutedjo, President Soeharto's half-brother and major shareholder of Bank Jakarta, has been fuming since the closure of his bank, questioning the reasons why his bank was liquidated.
President Soeharto's second son Bambang Trihatmodjo is also a major shareholder of another liquidated bank, Bank Andromeda.
He also filed a lawsuit at the administrative court but withdrew it a week later citing "national interest" as the reason. (10)