Rosmah Mansor has filed a bid to nullify her corruption trial linked to the RM1.25 billion solar hybrid project for 369 rural schools in Sarawak.
The wife of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak filed the bid through her legal team Messrs Akberdin & Co at the Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday.
According to cause papers made available to the media today, her nullification application is centred around the validity of a letter appointing former federal court judge Gopal Sri Ram as ad-hoc deputy public prosecutor (DPP).
Sri Ram is the lead DPP in the corruption trial against Rosmah, who on Feb 18 was ordered by the High Court to enter her defence in the corruption case.
On April 8, the Court of Appeal allowed her appeal to obtain a copy of Sri Ram's appointment letter, following the prosecution conceding to provide it to the defence team.
She was appealing against the High Court decision last year to dismiss her bid to access a copy of Sri Ram’s letter of appointment.
Alongside the present trial-nullification bid, Rosmah’s legal team has also filed at the High Court an application to strike down the validity of Sri Ram’s appointment as an ad hoc DPP.
According to the notice of motion seeking to invalidate the graft trial, Rosmah is seeking, among other things, a court declaration that the High Court criminal proceedings, which have been ongoing since Nov 15, 2018, was null and void as well as a mistrial.
She seeks a court declaration that Sri Ram’s appointment as DPP for the solar corruption case, under Sections 376(3) and 379 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) via the fiat letter, was illegal, irregular and defective under law.
Rosmah is seeking a declaratory order that “the fiat could not be utilised for the prosecution on the applicant (Rosmah) for the solar case because Sri Ram was appointed as senior DPP to lead the prosecution’s case of 1MDB inter alia the title of the fiat”.
She seeks a court declaration for her to be discharged and acquitted from all charges she faced in the solar corruption case.
Rosmah is also seeking an order to suspend her ongoing solar graft trial pending disposal of the trial-nullification bid.
According to the cause papers, she contended that the Court of Appeal on April 8 had found Sri Ram’s appointment letter failed to abide by three requirements to make it valid.
Among the three requirements she claimed the Court of Appeal had considered was whether the fiat letter was signed before or on Nov 15, 2018, the date when she was charged at the High Court.
Rosmah claimed that the Court of Appeal panel found that the appointment letter was not signed before or on Nov 15, 2018, but was instead signed on July 8, last year.
She contended that July 8 last year was the same date as her initial unsuccessful High Court legal bid to obtain a copy of the appointment letter.
Rosmah also claimed that the Court of Appeal found that the appointment letter violated a requirement for it to be signed by then attorney-general (AG) Tommy Thomas, as the said document was signed instead by current AG Idrus Harun.
“Due to the active role played by Gopal Sri Ram as senior DPP in the solar case, from the beginning of the case (proceedings) until now, inter alia during the time of Examination-in-Chief and Re-Examination of (prosecution) witnesses which total 23 people, over more or less 34 days of trial, has caused the solar case proceedings to be tainted with incurable irregularities and fatal.
“Not only that, but the solar case proceedings is also a mistrial by the prosecution on the applicant, causing the proceedings to be void ab initio (a nullity from the very beginning) as well have caused the violation of the applicant’s rights under the law and the Federal Constitution of Malaysia,” Rosmah contended.
She is also relying on the April 8 Court of Appeal outcome to support her related application to disqualify Sri Ram as ad hoc DPP.
The cause papers stated that both applications are fixed for case management before the High Court on May 11 at 9am. - Mkini
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