Veteran lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah kept mum over the outcome of his client Najib Abdul Razak’s bid for DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang to show cause in relation to an online article linked to the former prime minister’s RM42 million SRC International case.
Shafee (above) told the media this morning that they are not allowed to say anything in relation to what transpired in the chambers of High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali in Kuala Lumpur this morning.
“We are not allowed to say anything. Zero disclosure. We cannot even tell you (the media) what it is about that transpired (in Justice Nazlan’s chambers),” Shafee said.
Shafee was seen entering Justice Nazlan’s chambers around 9.45am and came out about 45 minutes later.
A source who desired anonymity said that a new case management date for the show cause would be set later so that the show-cause papers could be refiled.
The source said that the refiling was sought following a Court of Appeal ruling. However, the source did not explain further which specific ruling it was or what effect it had on Najib's show-cause bid.
On Nov 29, Shafee was reported saying that the court had wanted for the show-cause court papers against Lim and two others to be “tweaked a little bit”.
On Nov 29 last year, it was reported that Najib filed the show-cause application 18 days earlier (Nov 11) to compel Lim, online news portal Malay Mail, and its reporter Emmanuel Santa Maria Chin to show cause concerning an internet article linked to the former prime minister’s RM42 million SRC International court case.
Najib, who was also a former finance minister, is seeking for the trio to show cause why they should not be held in contempt of court in relation to a Malay Mail article titled “Kit Siang: High Court decision on Najib and Tanjung Piai by-election outcome will indicate where Malaysia headed towards” uploaded on Nov 9.
The applicant claimed that the article was created to exert pressure on the High Court in its decision in his RM42 million SRC International criminal case.
On Nov 11 last year, trial judge Nazlan ordered Najib to enter his defence against seven charges of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust (CBT) and money laundering in relation to RM42 million of SRC International’s funds.
The show-cause notice of motion was filed under Order 52 of the Rules of Court 2012, which deals with procedures needed to be done in the lead-up to contempt proceedings.
The ex-parte show-cause application had previously come up for case management in Justice Nazlan’s chambers on Nov 29 last year.
Under the law, ex-parte means a court procedure which is done with only one party attending the matter, as the opposing side still has no locus standi, a legal Latin maxim meaning the party still has no right or capacity to appear in court yet.
It is understood that the show-cause legal process would later become inter-partes, meaning involving both parties having the right to appear in court.
Neither Najib, Lim nor Emmanuel were present in court today. - Mkini
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