Najib Abdul Razak is expected to file a petition of appeal in his RM42 million SRC International corruption case by today.
The former prime minister received the green light from the Federal Court this morning in his application for an extension of time to file the appeal petition.
On April 18, Bernama reported that Najib applied for an extension no later than April 25 to file the appeal petition. The bid was filed on April 11.
In effect, the apex court ruling allows Najib the additional time to file the appeal petition by the end of today.
Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Ashrof Adrin Kamarul confirmed that a three-person apex bench chaired by Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim unanimously granted the approval to the former finance minister.
The other bench members were Federal Court judges P Nallini and Mary Lim Thiam Suan.
“For the SRC application (by Najib) for extension of time to file the petition of appeal today, the unanimous decision (is given) by the Federal Court (to) grant the extension from April 11.
“The applicant (Najib) is to file the petition of appeal for the SRC main appeal by today, April 25,” Ashrof told the media after the online hearing of the application.
The apex court has yet to fix a date to hear Najib’s main appeal to quash his guilty verdict as well as 12-year jail time and RM210 million fine over one count of abuse of power, three counts of criminal breach of trust (CBT), and three money laundering counts involving RM42 million of SRC’s funds.
Under the judicial process, the petition of appeal is required to be filed within 10 days from when the record of appeal, which comprises the grounds of judgment from the Court of Appeal verdict that upheld Najib's conviction and sentencing. The record of appeal has previously been filed.
Najib filed the time-extension application through law firm Messrs Shafee & Co at the Federal Court on April 11.
Time needed to study records
According to his supporting affidavit released to the media, Najib said the grounds of the judgment prepared by the judges of the Court of Appeal contained 176 volumes in total and the defence only received them on March 31.
“It is impossible for my defence team to study all the records of appeals and prepare a complete appeal petition in such a short time to address all issues raised by the appellate court judges.
“The grounds of judgment should be scrutinised by examining the notes of the proceedings at both stages of the proceedings to ensure accuracy in the findings, inferences made and applicable laws,” said the Pekan MP.
The former adviser emeritus to SRC is also seeking to bring in a Queen’s Counsel (QC) from the United Kingdom to represent him in the appeal.
On Dec 8 last year, the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal to overturn the guilty verdict and sentencing in the SRC case.
The Appellate Court upheld the Kuala Lumpur High Court verdict to convict and sentence the accused on July 28, 2020.
Previously a subsidiary of 1MDB, SRC later became fully owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated. Najib also used to be the chairperson of 1MDB’s board of advisers. - Mkini
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