Zaid to summon witnesses for judicial review on Najib

The former de facto Law Minister wants to compel the Attorney-General to utilize his discretion under Article 145(3) to properly consider instituting criminal proceedings against the Prime Minister.

KUALA LUMPUR: Former de facto Law Minister Zaid Ibrahim will call witnesses to testify in a judicial review application he filed to challenge Attorney-General (AG) Mohd Apandi Ali’s decision not to prosecute Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak on alleged wrongdoing.

Among others, he wants to compel the AG to utilize his discretion under Article 145(3) to properly consider instituting criminal proceedings against Najib.

His lawyer Americk Sidhu was speaking with the press after meeting Justice Hanipah Farikullah in chambers on Tuesday. “We told the court that we will be filing an application to subpoena witnesses to testify in the judicial review hearing, which she (Justice Hanipah) allowed.”

“We then vacated the date for leave hearing to commence the judicial review on March 4,” he said. “The reason why we are filing this application was because we could not persuade these people to affirm their affidavits.”

He said normally for a judicial review application, no witnesses are called to testify. However, Americk did not disclose who they will be calling to testify.

“We informed the court that we will be submitting the application in two weeks’ time from Tuesday,” said the lawyer. “Justice Hanipah fixed May 20 to hear the subpoena application.”

Senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan, for Apandi, said he will be bringing up a preliminary objection to Zaid’s application. “The decision for AG to initiate a criminal proceeding was his discretion under Article 145(3) of the Federal Constitution and it is not reviewable,” he said.

The former Law Minister said in a statement on February 2 that he filed an application for a judicial review to obtain various orders.

He wants an order to set aside the decision of the AG not to prosecute Najib and the order he made to the MACC to close their investigations. He wants a declaration that the decision of the AG compelling the MACC to close its investigations was ultra vires the AG’s power under Article 145(3) of the Federal Constitution.