PUTRAJAYA (Feb 13): Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s lawyers have written to the Court of Appeal to inform the court that Anwar is withdrawing his appeal over the High Court’s decision to dismiss his attempt to refer eight questions of law to the Federal Court with regards to his former aide Muhammad Yusoff Rawther’s lawsuit against him.
The letter was submitted by his solicitors from Messrs Christopher & Lee Ong.
The firm informed Yusoff’s solicitors from the Law Practice of Rafique of this on Thursday (Feb 12).
“We are instructed by our client to withdraw the appeal. Hence, we would like to inform this honourable court that we will not file any written submissions and will file a notice of discontinuance to the High Court’s decision on June 4 last year. Any inconvenience is regretted,” Christopher & Lee Ong said in the letter addressed to the Court of Appeal registrar on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Law Practice of Rafique in a reply dated Feb 12 said that it objects to the notice of discontinuance to the appeal with no order as to costs.
Prior to this, Yusoff’s lawyers said that Anwar’s lawyers had sought an extension of time to file its written submission, but Yusoff’s side had objected to it and it was also dismissed by the court.
“After the filing of the extension of time had been dismissed, and after we had filed in our written submissions, Messrs Christopher & Lee Ong indicated that they would not file any submission and intend to withdraw the appeal by filing the notice of discontinuance with no order as to costs.
“This shows that the appellant’s [Anwar’s] action is a delay tactic or [intended to] cause inordinate delay tactics, which is an abuse of the court process since a notice had been filed since the High Court’s decision on June 4, last year, and this has been extended for eight months, where the appellant obtained a suspension of the High Court trial.”
Hence, Yusoff’s lawyers in the letter requested that the case be called on March 4, and if Anwar wants to withdraw his appeal, it should be done before the bench physically, for both sides to argue on costs.
Christopher & Lee Ong is the fourth law firm to handle the suit as Anwar had appointed them last month to replace other solicitors to represent him in the suit.
Before this were Messrs William Leong, Messrs Zain, Megat & Murad, and Messrs Jeffrey Lee.
On June 4, then-presiding High Court judge Roz Mawar Rozain (who was transferred to the Seremban High Court last week) had dismissed Anwar’s application to refer questions of law with regards to the position of a sitting prime minister being sued, as it did not meet the threshold for the questions to be referred to the Federal Court.
Yusoff, who is turning 33 this year, filed the civil suit against Anwar in July 2021, alleging that he had been sexually assaulted by Anwar at Anwar’s Segambut home on Oct 2, 2018.
Yusoff claims that after filing a police report, he was accused of trying to ruin Anwar’s political career, and this accusation has affected his mental health.
Yusoff is seeking various damages and other relief. Anwar, 77, has denied the allegations and filed a countersuit.
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