KUALA LUMPUR (April 21): Court of Appeal Judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali has lodged a police report against news portal Malaysia Today over an article that alleged that he was under investigation over a purported sum of RM1.036 million in his bank account that could not be explained.

In a statement on Thursday (April 21), the Federal Court chief registrar's office said Nazlan had denied the “false, baseless and malicious allegations", adding the allegations were aimed at undermining his credibility as an appellate court judge as well as disrupting the administration of criminal justice and the judiciary.

“The chief registrar’s office takes such allegations and comments seriously and reminds the public that allegations against the judiciary aimed at interfering with cases that are in the process of trial are a violation of the principle of sub judice,” it said.

Malaysia Today had posted an article by Raja Petra Kamarudin on Wednesday (April 20) titled “Judge Mohd Nazlan being investigated for unexplained RM1 million in his bank”.

The chief registrar’s office said Nazlan had lodged the report to facilitate police investigations under Section 500 (defamation) of the Penal Code, Section 233 (improper use of network facilities or service) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, and other related legal provisions.

The chief registrar’s office added that it has also urged the police to conduct an investigation immediately in order to preserve the public’s confidence in the nation’s judiciary and to ensure that the administration of justice runs smoothly.

The now appellate court judge had previously served as a High Court judge and had presided over former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s SRC International Sdn Bhd trial. He had sentenced Najib to 12 years in jail plus a RM210 million fine after finding him guilty of seven criminal charges relating to the former 1MDB unit.

Najib’s conviction was affirmed by the Court of Appeal last year and is now pending appeal before the Federal Court.