Umno vice-president and Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's bid to strike out an assault suit filed against him by a businessman was thrown out by the Federal Court today.

Court of Appeal president Justice Md Raus Sharif, who headed a five-member bench, dismissed Zahid's application for leave to appeal before hearing submissions from Zahid's lawyer Shamsul Bahrin.


Shamsul Bahrin pointed out that the issue at hand refers to trespassing against a person. However, Karpal Singh, then the lawyer acting for Amir Bazli, interjected and pointed out that the points of law were not filed via a notice of motion. 

The judges found that the points of law that were to be presented to the court were not done properly, for this was not done through a notice of motion but through submission.

"The matter has not gone through trial at the High Court in Shah Alam and you are not deprived of an appeal process. Let the trial proceed in the High Court.

NONE"If we were to allow such application before the appeal proper, it will hold up other cases," Justice Md Raus said.

With this ruling of the highest court in the country, the civil suit by businessman Amir Bazli Abdullah (left in photo) against the home minister will begin in the High Court in Shah Alam on Aug 26.

Besides Justice Md Raus, the other judges in the hearing are Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Richard Malanjum and Federal Court judges Abdull Hamid Embong, Suriyadi Halim Omar and Zainun Ali.

Amir Bazli, who had known Ahmad Zahid’s daughter, in his statement of claim alleged the minister, his son-in-law and others took him from a petrol station near Bangi, while he was filling petrol, sometime in early January 2006 to Country Heights, Kajang.

There they assaulted him with a hard object, resulting in his nose and skull being fractured.

“As a result of the beatings my left eye was swollen, and I could not open my eyes properly,” he said in his statement of claim.

Ahmad Bazli also claimed that Ahmad Zahid had threatened to kill him on that night and asked him to be placed in a gunny sack and said  we will tanam (bury) you.

He was kept in Ahmad Zahid’s house until 2am before being released.

As a result of the injuries, he spent two weeks seeking treatment and subsequently he lodged a police report over the incident.

He is seeking the costs of his treatment, special, general, exemplary and aggravated damages and costs of the action.

Ahmad Zahid filed counter-claim

Ahmad Zahid, then a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, claimed in his defence that they did not taken Amir Bazli and he had came to their place on his own free will.

He denied punching Amir Bazli and claimed the injury was a concoction. He further denied causing serious injury to Amir Bazli’s face and did not leave a scar or even a mark.

The Umno vice-president further denied uttering the words that he would bury Amir Bazli and described it as scandalous. He also claimed it was false that he and his son-in-law had confined Amir Bazli.

Ahmad Zahid further claimed that his daughter is married to another person, and that Amir Bazli had abducted her and the couple’s two year-old child.

He claimed the incident had led to false publication of what actually transpired as it had been highlighted in several portals and Chinese newspapers.

Ahmad Zahid is seeking damages for causing considerable distress, libel, general damages for libel and other relief deemed fit by the court.- malaysiakini