Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's eleventh hour application for a stay of proceedings of the prosecution's appeal over the Sodomy II acquittal has failed.
Anwar is applying for a stay in appealing the Court of Appeal's refusal on Monday to remove senior lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah from leading the prosecution team.
With this, the prosecution's appeal will be heard at the Court of Appeal tomorrow led by Shafee (left).
The five-member bench led by Federal Court judge Abdull Hamid Embong, in a unanimous decision, said an application of this nature rests on jurisdiction of the court.
"There are two grounds in the application that Shafee's appointment is a conflict of interest and that he is not a fit and proper person to lead the prosecution.
"The court rules there are no merits on both grounds. Hence, the application for stay is dismissed," he said.
The bench further ruled there were no special circumstances for the court to grant a stay.
Initially, Karpal applied for a short adjournment pending the written judgment by the Court of Appeal over Monday's decision but this was rejected by the five member bench – besides Abdull, the other judges are Ahmad Ma'arop, Hasan Lah, Zaleha Zahari and Ramly Ali.
Karpal submitted that Shafee acted in conflict of interests as he was on the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) panel which found retired investigating officer Supt Jude Blacious Pereira to not be a credible witness.
“Furthermore, he is not a fit and proper person to lead the prosecution team as Shafee has failed to set aside the fine imposed by the Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board for misconduct where he is liable to be struck off the rolls (of practising) lawyers but a fine of RM5,000 was imposed,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sivarasa Rasiah (right), appearing for Anwar told the court that Anwar should be allowed to exhaust all his legal avenues to remove Shafee.
He said the appeal was set for tomorrow and by not allowing a stay it would render Anwar's appeal to remove Shafee, nugatory (academic).
“This is a criminal proceeding and Anwar should be allowed to exhaust his legal avenues,” he said.
Anwar filed the notice of appeal to dismiss Shafee this morning and subsequently applied for a stay in the afternoon. The apex court heard the application at 4.30pm
Vexatious litigant
Shafee in reply said that the matter of fine had been dealt with at the Court of Appeal and it is not that he had been struck of the roll.
“Even Karpal (left) is now facing conviction for sedition and is he a fit a proper person, despite his name is still on the (lawyers) rolls,” he said.
Shafee also said that the court found Anwar as a vexatious litigant and this was a point made in the judgment in not allowing a stay of proceeding.
The senior lawyer said that the Suhakam hearing on the five lawyers being arrested is different from the sodomy matter and there is no conflict.
Anwar was acquitted by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Jan 9, 2012 of sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
The offence allegedly took place at the Desa Damansara condominium on June 26, 2008.
The court however acquitted Anwar as it found unsafe to convict him after the possibility of the samples retrieved could have been tampered with.
Anwar is applying for a stay in appealing the Court of Appeal's refusal on Monday to remove senior lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah from leading the prosecution team.
With this, the prosecution's appeal will be heard at the Court of Appeal tomorrow led by Shafee (left).The five-member bench led by Federal Court judge Abdull Hamid Embong, in a unanimous decision, said an application of this nature rests on jurisdiction of the court.
"There are two grounds in the application that Shafee's appointment is a conflict of interest and that he is not a fit and proper person to lead the prosecution.
"The court rules there are no merits on both grounds. Hence, the application for stay is dismissed," he said.
The bench further ruled there were no special circumstances for the court to grant a stay.
Initially, Karpal applied for a short adjournment pending the written judgment by the Court of Appeal over Monday's decision but this was rejected by the five member bench – besides Abdull, the other judges are Ahmad Ma'arop, Hasan Lah, Zaleha Zahari and Ramly Ali.
Karpal submitted that Shafee acted in conflict of interests as he was on the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) panel which found retired investigating officer Supt Jude Blacious Pereira to not be a credible witness.
“Furthermore, he is not a fit and proper person to lead the prosecution team as Shafee has failed to set aside the fine imposed by the Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board for misconduct where he is liable to be struck off the rolls (of practising) lawyers but a fine of RM5,000 was imposed,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sivarasa Rasiah (right), appearing for Anwar told the court that Anwar should be allowed to exhaust all his legal avenues to remove Shafee.He said the appeal was set for tomorrow and by not allowing a stay it would render Anwar's appeal to remove Shafee, nugatory (academic).
“This is a criminal proceeding and Anwar should be allowed to exhaust his legal avenues,” he said.
Anwar filed the notice of appeal to dismiss Shafee this morning and subsequently applied for a stay in the afternoon. The apex court heard the application at 4.30pm
Vexatious litigant
Shafee in reply said that the matter of fine had been dealt with at the Court of Appeal and it is not that he had been struck of the roll.
“Even Karpal (left) is now facing conviction for sedition and is he a fit a proper person, despite his name is still on the (lawyers) rolls,” he said.Shafee also said that the court found Anwar as a vexatious litigant and this was a point made in the judgment in not allowing a stay of proceeding.
The senior lawyer said that the Suhakam hearing on the five lawyers being arrested is different from the sodomy matter and there is no conflict.
Anwar was acquitted by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Jan 9, 2012 of sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
The offence allegedly took place at the Desa Damansara condominium on June 26, 2008.
The court however acquitted Anwar as it found unsafe to convict him after the possibility of the samples retrieved could have been tampered with.
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