KUALA LUMPUR (June 5): The Court of Appeal has postponed its decision on former attorney general (AG) Tan Sri Tommy Thomas’ bid to remove the High Court judge handling a defamation suit filed by Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad against him.
A three-judge panel, led by Datuk Supang Lian, said it needed more time to review the complex issues discussed during the two-and-a-half-hour hearing on Thursday (June 5).
The panel, which also included judges Datuk Faizah Jamaludin and Datuk Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin, set June 12 for case management to fix a date for the decision.
At Thursday's hearing, Thomas’ lawyer Allan Gomez argued that High Court judge Roz Mawar Rozain should step aside because she made unsupported determinations in pre-trial applications that went beyond the claims in the case.
He argued that there exists a possibility of bias should she also preside over the trial which will begin on March 9, 2026.
Datuk Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin, who led the team of lawyers appearing for Shahrir, countered that the judge made no such findings, but simply said the issues in the case needed further examination.
Roz Mawar had dismissed Thomas' recusal application in January this year on the grounds that it lacked merit.
The recusal bid came after Roz Mawar rejected Thomas’ attempt to strike out Shahrir’s lawsuit in July 2024. She ruled that Shahrir’s claim was not an abuse of process and should go to trial.
Thomas had argued the suit should be struck out because, under Article 145(3) of the Federal Constitution, the AG has full discretion over criminal proceedings. He also said the public prosecutor doesn’t control investigations, which are handled independently by enforcement agencies.
Shahrir filed a lawsuit against Thomas, former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Latheefa Koya, the MACC and the government, for alleged malicious prosecution and investigation, as well as wrongful arrest. The case involves his trial for not declaring RM1 million from jailed ex-prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to the tax authorities.
The former minister claimed that Thomas allowed his prosecution before the investigation was completed. Shahrir has maintained that the money was a reimbursement and didn’t need to be declared as income.
In January 2023, Shahrir was fully acquitted after the prosecution said they would not continue the case, following orders from their superiors.