Court rejects Dr M’s bid to quash RCI report on BNM scandal

Dr Mahathir Mohamad was a key witness at the RCI on forex losses last year. (Bernama pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court today struck down Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s bid to declare null and void the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report into foreign exchange losses that Bank Negara Malaysia suffered in the 1990s.

Mahathir’s counsel Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla said judge Azizah Nawawi made the decision after allowing an application by the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) to strike out the lawsuit.

Haniff said Azizah, in her decision, said the court had no jurisdiction to challenge the RCI report.

“So, the application by the AG was allowed with no cost,” he said.

Senior federal counsel Mazlifah Ayob acted on behalf of the AGC during the chamber proceedings.

Mahathir filed the suit in December 2017 seeking to declare the report by the RCI on BNM’s forex trading losses null and void as it excluded legal documents of witnesses and notes of proceeding.

He named RCI chairman Mohd Sidek Hassan, and its members comprising Kamaludin Md Said, Tajuddin Atan, Saw Choo Boon, K. Pushpanathanan and Yusof Ismail, as well as former prime minister Najib Razak, Cabinet members and the government, as defendants.

He also wanted the court to declare that any report by the RCI set up under the Commission of Enquiry Act 1950 would only be legal if it had all the written statements by the witnesses who testified in the proceeding, as well as proceeding notes, submissions, and findings. - FMT