THE Malaysian Bar will have to wait until at least June 2027 to advance its legal challenge against the prosecution’s decision to discontinue the 47-charge Yayasan Akalbudi case against Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, as the Federal Court first considers appeals by Zahid and the Attorney-General.
The High Court fixed June 14, 2027, for case management of the Bar’s judicial review application after being informed that both Zahid and the Attorney-General had obtained leave from the Federal Court on Oct 8 to appeal against a Court of Appeal ruling that allowed the challenge to proceed.
“We therefore request that the judicial review hearing at the High Court be held after the Federal Court appeal proceedings are concluded,” Malaysian Bar lawyer Abhilaash Subramaniam told the court on Monday.
Judge S. Indra Nehru directed that the next case management be conducted via e-review before a High Court deputy registrar.
Abhilaash said no date had been set for the substantive Federal Court appeal, adding that compiling the appeal records and exchanging written submissions could take several months.
Federal counsel Safiyyah Omar, representing the Attorney-General, agreed to the proposed arrangement, while Zahid’s lawyer, Datuk Guok Ngek Seong, did not object.
On Oct 8, a three-member Federal Court panel led by Chief Judge of Malaya Datuk Seri Hashim Hamzah granted leave to Zahid and the Attorney-General to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision allowing the Malaysian Bar to initiate judicial review proceedings.
Hashim, sitting with Federal Court judges Datuk Nordin Hassan and Datuk Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali, said the case raised novel constitutional questions of public importance requiring clarification and a definitive ruling by the Federal Court.
On May 7, the Court of Appeal granted the Malaysian Bar leave to challenge the Attorney-General’s decision on Sept 4, 2023, to discontinue proceedings against Zahid. It overturned a June 27, 2024, High Court ruling that had dismissed the Bar’s application for leave to commence judicial review.
Zahid applied for leave to appeal to the Federal Court on May 25, while Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar filed a separate application.
In its judicial review application, the Malaysian Bar is seeking a declaration that the decision by then High Court judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, now a Federal Court judge, to grant Zahid a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) on 47 charges linked to Yayasan Akalbudi was null and void.
The charges involved criminal breach of trust, corruption and money laundering. The High Court granted the DNAA after the prosecution said the Attorney-General’s Chambers intended to discontinue the proceedings to examine new evidence. - October 12, 2026