Sodomy II: Court rules it can't hear Anwar's appeal to strike out charge

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal ruled Monday that it does not have the jurisdiction to hear Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's appeal to have his sodomy charge struck out.

In dismissing the Opposition leader's appeal, a three-man Bench of the appellate court granted the prosecution's preliminary objection that Anwar's application was made in the course of the trial, and was therefore, was not appealable.

"We are of the view that the High Court decision was a ruling made in the course of a trial, and that ruling did not dispose of the rights of the appellant (Anwar).

"The order made by the High Court was not a decision and therefore, not appealable. We have no jurisdiction to hear this appeal. This appeal is unanimously dismissed," said Justice Ahmad Maarof, who sat with Justices Sulaiman Daud and Azhar Ma'ah.

Earlier, Solicitor-General (S-G) II Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden, in his preliminary objection, had submitted that the ruling of the High Court was merely procedural, and was excluded from the meaning of "decision" under Section 3 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964.

"If they had won in the High Court, then it would constitute as a final order, and would be appealable. But since they did not win, it is not a final order," he said.

Anwar's counsel Karpal Singh said, however, that Anwar had applied for the charge to be struck out for being an abuse of the court process.

"That is not procedural. It is substantive," he said, adding Mohd Yusof's submissions could not stand as both prosecution and defence had to be on a level playing field.

Anwar, 63, had claimed trial to sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful, 25, at Desa Damansara Condominium in Jalan Setiakasih, Bukit Damansara, between 3.01pm and 4.30pm on June 26, 2008.

On Aug 16, this year, the High Court dismissed Anwar's application to strike out sodomy charges against him over the alleged affair between DPP Farah Azlina Latif and key witness Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

He made the application on grounds that the integrity of the prosecution team, led by Mohd Yusof, had been compromised as a result of the alleged affair.

Karpal had submitted in the High Court that Mohd Saiful would have had access to investigation papers and witness statements via Farah Azlina, and that amounted to an offence under the Official Secrets Act 1972.

However, the High Court ruled that Farah did not have access to the investigation papers and that she did not ascertain the direction of the prosecution, as her was limited to taking notes.

Speaking to reporters later, Karpal said they would be filing an appeal Tuesday against the Court of Appeal's decision, which he said was "illogical and against common sense".

courtesy of Star