Federal Court dismisses Lokman Adam’s appeal in contempt case
Former Umno supreme council member Lokman Noor Adam will now need to proceed with the hearing of the merits of the contempt proceedings against him.
This followed on the heels of the Federal Court today dismissing his appeal to set aside the leave granted to the attorney-general to commence committal proceedings against him...
Former Umno supreme council member Lokman Noor Adam will now need to proceed with the hearing of the merits of the contempt proceedings against him.
This after the Federal Court today dismissed his appeal to set aside the leave granted to the attorney-general to commence committal proceedings against him.
A five-person apex court bench chaired by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat delivered the unanimous ruling during an online hearing of the appeal via Zoom today.
Lokman is appealing against the Court of Appeal's ruling on May 13 last year which dismissed his appeal to set aside the Kuala Lumpur High Court leave granted to the AG to commence committal proceedings against him.
The contempt proceedings were over alleged acts of intimidation against Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin, a key witness in former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's RM2.28 billion 1MDB corruption trial.
Amhari Efendi used to be the former premier's special officer.
With today’s apex court ruling, the High Court hearing of the merits of the contempt application against Lokman is set to proceed.
The Federal Court decision was delivered following submissions today by legal teams for both Lokman and the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC).
In the brief ruling, Tengku Maimun ruled that the cause papers in the contempt application are sufficiently clear to inform the appellant of the particulars of the alleged contempt act he needed to answer.
“We are of the view that they (contempt cause papers) are sufficient to inform the appellant on the alleged contempt that he needs to answer and respond to.
“We find no prejudice occasioned to the appellant. We find no reason to disturb the findings of the court below,” she said.
In regard to the issue of service of the notice to show cause against Lokman, Tengku Maimun also ruled that the notice has been properly served in compliance with Order 52 Rule 2B of the Rules of Court 2012.
Aside from her, other members of the bench today were Federal Court judges Vernon Ong Lam Kiat, Abdul Rahman Sebli, Zaleha Yusof and Hasnah Mohammed Hashim.
Lokman and the AGC were represented by counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and special prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram respectively.
When contacted by Malaysiakini after the apex court decision, DPP Ahmad Akram Gharib said Lokman’s contempt case is set for mention before the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Jan 27.
He explained that the mention is to update the High Court on the outcome of Lokman’s appeal at the Federal Court as well as for the High Court to fix hearing dates for the main contempt case.
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