The High Court has stayed the Malaysian Bar’s judicial review of the decision to discontinue Zahid’s Yayasan Akalbudi corruption case pending a Federal Court appeal
KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court today allowed the Attorney-General’s application to stay the Malaysian Bar’s judicial review proceedings challenging the prosecution’s decision to discontinue the Yayasan Akalbudi corruption case involving Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, pending an appeal at the Federal Court.
Lawyer Datuk Guok Ngek Seong, who represented Ahmad Zahid, said Judge Datuk Azizan Md Arshad granted the application during proceedings in chambers.
“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.
Also present were lawyer Abhilaash Subramaniam, representing the Malaysian Bar; Federal Counsel Safiyyah Omar and Imtiyaz Wizni Aufa Othman, representing the Attorney-General; and lawyer Mohd Shahrul Fazli Kamarulzaman, who also represented Ahmad 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 of the prosecution’s decision to discontinue the case.
The panel, which also comprised Federal Court judges Datuk Nordin Hassan and Datuk Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali, ruled that the case raised novel constitutional issues of public importance requiring clarification and a final determination by the Federal Court.
On May 7, the Court of Appeal granted the Malaysian Bar leave to initiate the judicial review challenging the Attorney-General’s decision on Sept 4, 2023, to discontinue proceedings against Ahmad Zahid.
The appellate court overturned the High Court’s decision on June 27, 2024, which had dismissed the Malaysian Bar’s application for leave to commence the judicial review.
Ahmad Zahid, the proposed second respondent in the judicial review, subsequently filed an application on May 25 for leave to appeal to the Federal Court. Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar filed a separate application for leave to appeal.
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 Ahmad Zahid a discharge and acquittal on 47 criminal breach of trust, corruption and money laundering charges linked to Yayasan Akalbudi was null and void.
The High Court had instead granted Ahmad Zahid a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) after the prosecution informed the court that the Attorney-General’s Chambers intended to discontinue the proceedings to examine new evidence.