Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's trial in relation to the seven charges over SRC International Sdn Bhd scheduled tomorrow will not proceed.
This came after the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya unanimously allowed Najib's stay application pending his appeal over the withdrawal of a certificate of transfer by the public prosecutor.
The three-member bench led by Justice Ahmadi Asnawi ruled that the prosecutor risked having the trial nugatory due to the withdrawal of the certificate.
In his ruling, Justice Ahmadi said the submission made by Najib's lead counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah has merit and that there are special circumstances for the court to allow the application.
Earlier, the attorney-general Tommy Thomas argued that the stay application should be thrown out as Najib's case is of public interest and has drawn local and international attention.
While Justice Ahmadi agreed with Thomas on this point, he disagreed that Najib, via his legal team, had resorted to delaying tactics so that the trial would not progress as planned.
"We were of the view that we do not find any evidence of legal tactics of delaying the hearing," said the judge.
In his submission, Thomas also noted that it might take at least one month to complete Najib's appeal process.
Without giving a dateline, Justice Ahmadi ruled that the matter should be expedited.
As of Feb 8, Najib has been charged in court six times on 42 counts of criminal charges. The former BN chairperson and Umno president had pleaded not guilty to all charges.
He was first charged on July 4, 2018 on three counts of CBT and one count of abuse of power in connection with SRC International Sdn Bhd funds, totalling RM42 million.
The first round of trial out of 42 charges was originally set to commence tomorrow.
On Feb 7, the attorney-general withdrew his certificate to transfer the seven charges from Sessions Court to the High Court owing to the landmark decision in Semenyih Jaya Sdn Bhd and M Indira Gandhi cases which gave courts the discretion to decide to hear a case.
The defence then mounted an appeal and applied for a stay of the trial.
When met outside the courtroom today, both Thomas and Najib declined to comment.
Shafee, meanwhile, said: "If we win this appeal, the matter would have to start all over again from the Sessions Court because the process is wrong.
"It is the rushing that caused this problem. When you rush, you make mistakes."
Senior lawyer V Sithambaram, who is part of the prosecution team, however, denied that his team was ill-prepared.
He said it was only a legal hiccup which they are able to deal with.
Sithambaram said the prosecution team will discuss whether to appeal against the stay granted to Najib. - Mkini
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