The hearing of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his deputy Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's application to strike out a suit by former Umno Batu Kawan leader Khairuddin Abu Hassan, for breaking their oath of office regarding 1MDB, has been fixed on Jan 18.
The date was fixed by Kuala Lumpur High Court's deputy registrar K Pavani during case management in chambers today.
Khairuddin was represented by Syed Iskandar Syed Jaafar Al Mahdzar, who confirmed the date of hearing.
Lawyer Yazid Mustaqim appeared for Najib and Zahid.
It was reported two months ago that the prime minister and his deputy claimed that Khairuddin's suit did not reveal a reasonable cause of action, and described the application as frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of the court process.
They also contended that the filing of their defence before the hearing of the striking-out application would compromise or prejudice their position and hence applied for a stay in filing their defence. However, Pavani had refused the stay.
The two also argued whether this court has the jurisdiction to determine violations of oath according to the Sixth Schedule of the Federal Constitution.
Khairuddin filed the suit last September against Najib and Zahid, for allegedly violating their constitutional oath to the Yang di-Pertuan-Agong in misleading the public over the origin of the US$681 million (RM2.6 billion) in the 1MDB financial scandal.
He is seeking a court declaration that Najib and Zahid had violated their oath under the Sixth Schedule of the Federal Constitution and therefore were unfit to hold their respective posts or any position in the cabinet.
Khairuddin said he has the legal standing to initiate the suit since the litigation is in public interest.
“Upon taking their oaths, they became trustees of their offices under public law and under a duty not to misrepresent the facts or to mislead Malaysians or lie to them on material issues,” he had said.
Khairuddin, in his statement of claim, alleged that sometime in March 2013, a sum of US$681 million from 1MDB was deposited into Najib's accounts. However, the prime minister had on various occasions said the money came from an Arab donor.
Khairuddin alleged that Najib's statement was false as the money came from Tanore Corporation Finance, a company controlled by Low Thaek Jho, who is Najib's agent.
"Having uttered the aforesaid falsehood, Najib stands in violation of the solemn oath that he took. He has accordingly, acted in breach of trust to Malaysian citizens, and is unfit to hold the high office of the prime minister, and the cabinet, as established under Article 43 of the Federal Constitution," the statement of claim read.
As for the deputy prime minister, Khairuddin claimed that Zahid had told the Dewan Rakyat sometime in August 2015, that he had met the aforementioned Arab donor or donors over the sum involved, and hence had misled the house and the Malaysian public.- Mkini
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