Former transport minister Dr Ling Liong Sik has filed an application seeking the recusal of Kuala Lumpur High Court’s Justice Ahmadi Asnawi on the ground that the judge may be biased in the cheating trial linked to the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project.

The court was to have begun hearing the Ling’s testimony today, after his defence was called on March 9.

NONE Now that Ling's application will have to be heard first, Ahmadi has set June 21 to hear submissions.

Ling's lawyer Wong Kian Kheong told the court that he had only received a reply from the prosecution last Friday, after filing the application together with Ling’s affidavit-in-support.

DPP Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah, who heads the prosecution division of the Attorney-General’s Chambers, confirmed this.

Wong then said he would require further instructions from Ling on whether there is a need to reply to the prosecution's document.

In his notice of motion dated June 5, Ling had claimed there is a real danger of bias with regard to the judge's findings and comments in ordering him to enter his defence .

He therefore wants the judge to step down and for his case to be heard before another judge, as well as other reliefs that the court deems fit to award.

In the notice of motion, the defence team listed 15 passages to back its claim of bias.

“From the narratives of the prosecution's evidence it seems glaring enough to me that the accused was advancing the cause or proposals advocated by the Port Klang Authority in so far as the cost of the said land is concerned and not the official valuation by the Property Services Department...,” it said, citing a passage in the written judgment.

‘Finding of fact’

In the affidavit-in-reply by DPP Manoj Kurup, the prosecution said the judge hadmade a finding of fact based on evidence adduced during the trial, and that this had been gained not only from the prosecution but during cross-examination of witnesses.

azlan Manoj also said the finding was based on elements in the charge and that the judge - in determining that a prima facie case had been made - had also scrutinised the credibility of the prosecution's witnesses and Ling's alleged motives.

Ling is accused of cheating the government by concealing from then premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad's cabinet the existence of an additional 7.5 percent interest rate per annum on the purchase price of the land for the PKFZ project.

The Valuation and Property Services Department had fixed the price for the land at RM25 per sq ft, or RM1.09 billion including coupon interest.

Ling was charged on July 29, 2010, under Section 418 of the Penal Code, which carries a penalty of up to seven years in prison, or a fine, or both.

He faces two alternative charges of cheating and intentionally omitting information in his report to the cabinet on the additional interest rate, which carries up to five years' jail or a fine, or both.