THE Kuala Lumpur High Court has postponed proceedings in a judicial review filed by the Malaysian Bar challenging the decision to discontinue corruption proceedings against Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi over the Yayasan Akalbudi case, pending the outcome of an appeal at the Federal Court.
Lawyer Datuk Guok Ngek Seong, who represents Ahmad Zahid, said High Court judge Datuk Azizan Md Arshad made the decision during proceedings in chambers today.
He said the postponement followed the Federal Court’s decision to grant Ahmad Zahid and the Attorney-General leave to appeal in the case.
“The judge allowed the application following developments at the Federal Court. The appeal hearing date has yet to be fixed as we only filed the notice of appeal on Oct 19,” he told reporters after the proceedings.
The hearing was also attended by lawyer Abhilaash Subramaniam, representing the Malaysian Bar, Federal Counsel Safiyyah Omar and Imtiyaz Wizni Aufa Othman for the Attorney-General, and lawyer Mohd Shahrul Fazli Kamarulzaman for Zahid.
On Oct 8, a three-judge Federal Court panel led by Chief Judge of Malaya Datuk Seri Hashim Hamzah granted Ahmad Zahid and the Attorney-General leave to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision allowing the Malaysian Bar to initiate a judicial review over the prosecution’s decision to discontinue proceedings in the Yayasan Akalbudi corruption case.
The panel, comprising Federal Court judges Datuk Nordin Hassan and Datuk Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali, ruled that the case raised novel constitutional questions of public importance requiring clarification and a final determination by the Federal Court.
On May 7, the Court of Appeal allowed the Malaysian Bar to proceed with its judicial review challenging the Attorney-General’s Sept 4, 2023 decision to discontinue proceedings against Ahmad Zahid.
That ruling overturned the High Court’s June 27, 2024 decision dismissing the Malaysian Bar’s application for leave to commence the judicial review.
Following the Court of Appeal’s decision, Zahid, named as the proposed second respondent in the judicial review, filed an application on May 25 seeking leave to appeal to the Federal Court. Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar filed a separate application for the same purpose.
In its judicial review application, the Malaysian Bar is seeking a declaration that the High Court’s decision to discharge Ahmad Zahid not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) on 47 charges involving criminal breach of trust, corruption and money laundering linked to Yayasan Akalbudi was null and invalid.
Zahid was granted a DNAA after the prosecution informed the High Court that the Attorney-General’s Chambers intended to discontinue proceedings to allow further examination of new evidence. - October 21, 2026