No more RM2.6b questions, Pandikar says it's sub judice

Questions relating to the Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's RM2.6 billion donation are sub judice, said Dewan Rakyat Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia.

This effectively means that questions on the scandal can no longer be asked in the House.

In a note to MPs, Pandikar said that a judicial review filed by the Bar Council against attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali's decision to clear Najib of wrongdoing had rendered questions on the donation sub judice in accordance with Standing Order 23(1)(g).

Standing Order 23(1)(g) states that "a question shall not be so drafted as to be likely to prejudice a case under trial, or be asked to any matter which is sub judice".

Pandikar said the lawsuit filed against the prime minister by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad also rendered questions on the scandal sub judice under Standing Order 36(2).

"I find that the interest of those involved in the writ would be jeopardised," Pandikar said in the note.

Last week, Pandikar had said there would be no blanket ban on the RM2.6 billion donation, and that whether or not such questions are sub judice would be decided on a case-by-case basis.

This was after he rebuked Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Azalina Othman Said for pre-empting the speaker's powers by rejecting such questions by citing standing order 23(1)(g). -Mkini