The Court of Appeal today granted former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s application to be present at the hearings of two civil appeals.
The order was granted by a three-member bench comprising justices Wong Kian Kheong, Firuz Jaffril and Nadzarin Wok Nordin.
Najib’s counsel, Wan Arfan Wan Othman, moved an ex parte application for the issuance of an order to produce to secure his client’s attendance at the hearings. Also present was lawyer M Naresh.
The first appeal arises from a defamation suit filed by Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad against Najib, in which Dzulkefly is challenging the High Court’s dismissal of his application to recuse judicial commissioner Arziah Apandi from hearing the case.
The second appeal was brought by Najib following the High Court’s dismissal of his application for leave to commence contempt proceedings against former attorney-general Ahmad Terrirudin Salleh.
The appeal in Dzulkefly’s suit is scheduled to be heard on Feb 24, while Najib’s appeal is fixed for March 13.
Dzulkefly filed the defamation suit in his personal capacity in 2022, alleging that Najib had published a defamatory Facebook post on Aug 24, 2020, in relation to claims of cronyism.
In July last year, Arziah dismissed Dzulkefly’s application seeking her recusal from presiding over the case.
Addendum issue
In a separate matter, Najib applied for leave to initiate contempt proceedings against Terrirudin, who is now a Federal Court judge, over an alleged addendum said to have permitted him to serve his prison sentence under house arrest.
The High Court dismissed the application in September last year, prompting Najib to appeal the matter.
Najib, 72, is currently serving a six-year prison sentence in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case after the Federal Court dismissed his appeal and subsequent review application.
In February 2024, the Pardons Board halved his original 12-year jail term and reduced his RM210 million fine to RM50 million.
He was also convicted by the High Court on charges of abuse of power and money laundering linked to 1Malaysia Development Bhd and sentenced to 15 years in prison. The former Pekan MP has since appealed that decision.
During today’s proceedings, Arfan raised no objection to Wong and Firuz sitting on the panel after both made disclosures.
Wong said he had previously sat on the Court of Appeal panel that heard Najib’s appeal against former AG Tommy Thomas, and that his wife had served as law revision commissioner when Terrirudin was the AG.
Firuz disclosed that he was among the judges in the majority decision of the Court of Appeal in January last year concerning Najib’s appeal related to the alleged addendum.
- Bernama
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.