High Court annuls reopening of Bank Jakarta
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)