KUALA LUMPUR (May 18): The Court of Appeal (COA) has set June 22 to deliver its decision on Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor's appeal to challenge the appointment of Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram as lead prosecutor and nullify her solar hybrid project graft trial.
A three-member panel led by appellate court judge Datuk Hanipah Farikullah said that they needed more time to consider all parties' submission and to also read the authorities presented.
The other judges on the panel were Datuk Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali and Datuk See Mee Chun.
Rosmah, 71, is appealing the High Court's decision last August which dismissed her leave application to commence judicial review proceedings where she was challenging the legality of Sri Ram's letters of appointment, or "fiats".
In her judicial review application filed in June last year, the wife of imprisoned ex-prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was also seeking a declaration that her solar hybrid trial is null and void.
High Court judge Datuk Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid in his decision allowed the preliminary objections raised by the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) and said, among others, Rosmah's application was filed out of time.
All three respondents in the matter — the AG/Public Prosecutor, Government of Malaysia and Sri Ram — had raised preliminary objections to Rosmah's application seeking leave to commence the proceedings.
Sri Ram, a former federal court judge, was allowed to be a putative respondent at the proceedings at the High Court.
Live issues to be considered
Earlier, Hanipah also noted that despite Sri Ram's passing in January this year, there were still "live issues" to be considered in Rosmah's appeal.
This is because, among others, Rosmah was seeking a declaration that all three of Sri Ram's letters of appointment — dated July 8, 2020, May 11 and May 21, 2021 — were "an illegality and irrationality".
Speaking to reporters after the proceedings, Rosmah's counsel Datuk Akberdin Abdul Kader also confirmed that they were no longer looking to disqualify Sri Ram but rather that the trial was a nullity as Sri Ram had no fiat to act as lead prosecutor.
Contention over whether application is filed out of time
During submissions, senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan, who represented the AGC, argued that Rosmah's application was filed out of time as it had to be within three months when grounds for dissatisfaction first arise.
"[Rosmah] was charged on Nov 15, 2018. [She] only filed the application for leave to file judicial review application on June 25, 2022 whereby there is a delay of three years and three months and 10 days in filing the application for judicial review," he said.
Rosmah's similar application around the same issue had previously been dismissed by the Criminal High Court, COA and Federal Court. In short, the COA and Federal Court found that the criminal court has no jurisdiction to grant the declaratory reliefs sought by Rosmah.
Subsequently, she had filed leave for a judicial review.
On Thursday, Rosmah's counsels argued that they waited for the final decision at the Federal Court in May 2022 before proceeding with the judicial review application.
They contended that their application filed 28 days after the Federal Court decision was indeed filed within time.
Akberdin asked for the court to send the matter back to the High Court so that the full merits of the case can be heard.
In September last year, the High Court found Rosmah guilty of all three counts of graft relating to a solar hybrid graft project for 369 schools in rural Sarawak. She was sentenced to 10 years in jail and fined RM970 million.
A stay was granted, pending the disposal of her appeal, which is slated to be heard in July this year.