Zahid’s DNAA application made in accordance with the law, says AGC

The AGC says it won't comment further on a lawyer's application for leave to initiate a judicial review on the conditional discharge.

The Attorney-General’s Chambers said the decision was made in the context of the situation at that time, including the need to conduct further investigations.

PETALING JAYA:

 The decision to apply for a conditional discharge in Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s Yayasan Akalbudi corruption case more than two years ago was made in accordance with the law, the Attorney-General’s Chambers said.

The AGC said it was made in the context of the situation at that time, including the need to conduct further investigations.

“In view of the fact that the matter is now under the court’s consideration, the AGC will not comment further on the merits of the application (for a conditional discharge),” it said in a statement today.

It was responding to a lawyer who filed for leave to initiate judicial review proceedings over the authorities’ investigations following Zahid’s conditional discharge in 2024.

Syed Amir Syakib Arsalan Syed Ibrahim said his application did not challenge the attorney-general’s discretion to apply for a discharge not amounting to an acquittal, nor did it seek to predetermine any prosecutorial outcome.

The application sought “clarity, accountability, and timely resolution” following the reasons that were publicly advanced to justify the DNAA, namely that further and more comprehensive investigations were required.

“More than a year has passed, and no public update has been provided as to whether those investigations have been concluded or when a final prosecutorial decision will be made,” Syed Amir said in a statement.

It is understood that the application for leave was filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court this morning.

In 2023, the High Court granted Zahid a DNAA over 47 charges of corruption, money laundering and criminal breach of trust.

The attorney-general had sought the DNAA premised on representations made by Zahid’s defence team to the prosecution, which claimed that MACC was still investigating developments in the case.

In his originating summons, Syed Amir is seeking a declaration that a DNAA granted on the basis of “further investigations” cannot be indefinitely maintained lawfully without reasonable diligence, progress and conclusion.

He is also asking the court to declare that reliance on a royal commission of inquiry or other executive processes does not suspend or replace the constitutional duty of the prosecution to make a final determination. - FMT