Former ACA director-general Shafie Yahya this morning told the court in sacked deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy trial, that Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad ordered him to close his investigation against ex-Economic Planning Unit director-general Ali Abul Hassan Sulaiman ( photo ).

He said that his agency raided Ali Abul Hassan's office in 1998 and found large sums of unexplained cash in his drawers.

Soon after, he was called by Mahathir who scolded him: "How dare you raid my senior officer's office?" The EPU is a unit under the Prime Minister's Department.

"I was taken aback. I replied: 'This was based on an official complaint by an aggrieved party and I did it as was officially required.' Then he accused me of trying to fix the former DG," said Shafie.

Shafie said that he told the prime minister that he was wrong in accusing him of trying to fix the DG and as a Muslim it is a big sin to fix anybody.

He added that Mahathir also queried him about Anwar's involvement in the matter.

"He asked me: ''Did Anwar ask you to raid the office?' I said: ''No, it was based on an official complaint.'"

Asked by lead defence counsel Christopher Fernando what was Mahathir's tone when he asked that question, Shafie said: "The tone was rather accusatory."

He said that Mahathir then ordered him to close the case.

Ali Abul Hassan was appointed by Mahathir as central bank governor on Sept 1, 1998, a day before he sacked Anwar. He retired from the post two months ago.

Questioned further by Fernando as to what Shafie's reaction was after being scolded by the prime minister, ex-ACA director-general replied, "I was highly disillusioned and when I went home, I told my wife that I wanted to resign but she advised me to finish my contract, which had three months left."

Asked why he felt highly disillusioned, Shafie said, "In my whole career with the government, that was the first time my boss (Mahathir) accused me of trying to fix somebody. I was also disillusioned by the way the prime minister was interfering with my duties."

Earlier, Shafie told the court that before the raid, he mentioned the complaint against the EPU director-general and ACA's intention to Anwar. He said Anwar asked him whether he had cleared it with Mahathir.

Shafie told High Court judge Arifin Jaka that he did mention the investigation to Mahathir, but he "kept quiet".

During Shafie's testimony, both judge Arifin and defence counsel Fernando frequently exchanged heated arguments.

When Fernando asked the witness whether the money found in the raid of EPU office was RM100,000, Arifin stopped Shafie from answering the question.

Fernando at one point, shouted at the judge, asking Arifin to let him complete his question as to whether Anwar ordered the witness to close the case against the ACA chief.

He accused Arifin of stifling him. Arifin, in response, ticked him off for being rude.

Arifin again ruled Fernando's line of questioning as irrelevant when Fernando asked the witness whether the prime minister ordered the case to be closed.

Fernando told Arifin, "I'm trying to show another instance of bad blood (between Anwar and Mahathir)."

Arifin in reply said that the defence had to adduce direct evidence to show that Mahathir was involved in fabricating evidence against Anwar.

Arifin: "As politicians there will be a lot of bad blood and disagreements. You have to show that Anwar is fixed up."

Fernando: "How can this be not relevant? We have to look beyond our nose. We cannot have direct evidence of conspiracy of fabricating evidence. We have to look at evidence surrounding the case. Please record that."

Arifin:"Don't be rude!"

Fernando: "I said 'please'. How is that rude?"

Meanwhile, later in the morning, before the trial was adjourned for lunch, Arifin told the defence to close its case today.

Fernando, however, told Arifin that the defence could not close its case and has to wait for the disposal of the appeal decision filed by Anwar in the Federal court against Arifin's ruling that Mahathir need not testify in the sodomy trial after the Court of Appeal upheld this ruling last week.

He added that another defence counsel Gurbachan Singh had interviewed lawyer Manjeet Singh Dhillion and he (Manjeet) would be called in as a defence witness.

"But Gurbachan was taken ill this morning and we ask your lordship to postpone the case to Wednesday so that we can call in the next witness," Fernando said.

Arifin, however, refused to postpone the trial further, adding that he had already instructed another defence lawyer Sankaran Nair last Friday to call in all the defence witnesses to testify today.

"Adjournment not allowed. Call this witness later today," Arifin said.

He also said that he would not deliver the judgment of the case until the disposal of the Federal Court decision.

"I think that is fair. But we can close the case today, subject to the ruling of the Federal Court. You can give me a written skeletal submission. Then I can call you to highlight certain points," Arifin told the defence.

Fernando later told malaysiakini that the defence was not going to close the case until the Federal Court makes its decision.

"We have no choice. But we have to submit the skeletal submission since the judge wants us to do so. There is a conflict now. How can we be asked to make our submissions before the decision (by the Federal Court) is made. It is an exercise in futility. We have four more witnesses," he said, referring to Mahathir, Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin, former minister Megat Junid Megat Ayob and Deputy Education Minister Aziz Shamsuddin.

Anwar is being charged with forcing sex on his wife's former driver Azizan Abu Bakar with the aid of adopted brother Sukma Dermawan Saasmitat Madja, at Sukma's apartment in Tivoli Villas, Bangsar on "one night at 7.45pm between January and March, 1993".

The one-time heir apparent to the prime minister's post is currently serving a six-year jail term for corruption relating to abuse of power while in office as deputy prime minister. He has repeatedly denied all charges and says they were trumped up to end his political career.