Rosmah Mansor will know on June 22 whether she can get court greenlight to proceed with her legal challenge to nullify a graft case against her linked to the RM1.25 billion solar hybrid energy project.
A three-person Court of Appeal bench chaired by Hanipah Farikullah today set the decision date on the appeal by the wife of incarcerated former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.
Earlier this morning, the bench, which also comprised Court of Appeal judges Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali and See Mee Chun, heard oral submissions from Rosmah’s legal team as well as the prosecution.
Rosmah is appealing against the decision of the High Court (civil jurisdiction) in Kuala Lumpur on Aug 30 last year that dismissed her application for leave to proceed with her judicial review, which centred on her claim that the solar case is a nullity from the onset due to the alleged invalid appointment of its lead prosecutor, the late Gopal Sri Ram..
On Sept 1 last year, the criminal jurisdiction High Court in Kuala Lumpur convicted her in the graft case and sentenced her to 10 years imprisonment and RM970 million fine.
However, she obtained a stay of execution against the sentencing, and her separate criminal appeal against this guilty verdict is set for hearing before the Court of Appeal on July 11.
Preliminary objection
In the event that the Court of Appeal grants leave, Rosmah’s judicial review will revert to the High Court for full hearing of its merits.
High Court judge Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid denied leave to Rosmah due to him allowing a preliminary objection by the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) and the government, which are the two respondents targeted by the judicial review.
The objection in question is that the judicial review was filed out of time, as Rosmah was first charged at the criminal court on Nov 15, 2018, but she only filed the civil action on June 24 last year.
The respondents had cited Order 53 Rule 3 (6) of the Rules of Court 2012, which states that a judicial review leave application shall be made promptly within three months from the date when the grounds for such a bid arises, or when the decision was first communicated to the applicant.
The judge agreed with the respondents’ prior submissions that there was a delay of three years and three months in Rosmah’s filing of the legal action.
Kamal also disagreed with the arguments put forward by Rosmah’s lawyers that the grounds for the judicial review arose on May 27, 2022.
On that date, the apex court dismissed her appeal to quash her solar graft case.
Rosmah was represented by lawyers Akberdin Abdul Kader and Jagjit Singh, while senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan appeared for the respondents.
She was not present at court during today's civil appeal. - Mkini
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