Apex court throws out Najib's bid, Sri Ram stays as DPP
Former federal court judge Gopal Sri Ram will remain as ad hoc deputy public prosecutor in Najib Abdul Razak’s 1MDB criminal cases.
The apex court this morning rejected an application by the former prime minister for leave to commence an appeal to recuse private lawyer Sri Ram from prosecuting his case...
Former federal court judge Gopal Sri Ram will remain as ad hoc deputy public prosecutor in Najib Abdul Razak’s 1MDB criminal cases.
The apex court this morning rejected an application by the former prime minister for leave to commence an appeal to recuse private lawyer Sri Ram from prosecuting his case.
In a unanimous ruling, the three-person Federal Court bench chaired by Mohd Zawawi Salleh ruled that there is no novel question of law that requires the apex court to hear the merits of the appeal.
The judge noted that the issue of the appointment of a practising lawyer as an ad hoc DPP has already been settled in two appeals in 2014.
Zawawi was referring to the legal bids by Anwar Ibrahim then to challenge the appointment of lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah as ad hoc prosecutor in the opposition leader’s Sodomy 2 appeal.
Anwar had failed to recuse Shafee, and later in 2015, the Federal Court dismissed his appeal to set aside his sodomy conviction and five-year jail sentence (however later in 2018, Anwar received a royal pardon over the case).
Shafee is also acting as Najib’s lawyer in today’s apex court matter.
“We are of the opinion that the legal questions in this application (by Najib) have already been decided by the Court of Appeal in PP (Public Prosecutor) versus Anwar Ibrahim in 2014 and endorsed by this (Federal) Court in Anwar Ibrahim versus PP in 2014.
“The decision in both cases is that, on the plain reading and construction of Sections 376 and 379 (of the Criminal Procedure Code or CPC), there are two modes of appointment under the CPC.
“There is direct appointment per Section 376(3) and there is appointment via fiat under Section 379.
“As the law is settled, we have no reason to depart from the correct construction of the law in these two cases.
“We are constrained to say that this leave application (by Najib) must fail and be dismissed with no order to costs,” Zawawi said. The other panel members today are P Nallini and Vernon Ong Lam Kiat.
Wrongly appointed
Among the legal issues raised by Shafee was whether then attorney-general Tommy Thomas had wrongly appointed Sri Ram as an ad hoc prosecutor under Section 376 (3) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The lawyer contended that the then public prosecutor should have instead made the appointment under Section 379 of the CPC.
Shafee claimed that Section 376 (3) is only meant for the appointment of DPP from the civil service and that Section 379 is the correct provision to appoint a private lawyer as an ad hoc DPP.
Section 376 (3) states that the public prosecutor may appoint fit and proper persons to be DPPs, who shall be under his general control and direction.
Section 379 deals with the employment via the writing of a private lawyer to act on behalf of the government to conduct any criminal prosecution.
The same apex court today also unanimously dismissed an appeal leave application by Shafee to challenge Sri Ram’s appointment as ad hoc DPP in the lawyer’s own ongoing RM9.5 million money laundering case.
Earlier during online proceedings this morning, the apex bench heard submissions from Shafee and lawyer Harvinderjit Singh (who represented Shafee in the lawyer’s appeal leave application), and the government’s lawyer, senior federal counsel Shamshul Bolhassan
On Nov 8 last year, the Court of Appeal dismissed Najib’s appeal to recuse Sri Ram.
Najib was appealing against the Kuala Lumpur High Court decision on Aug 28 2020, which denied the former premier’s legal challenge against the validity of the DPP appointment of Sri Ram, who is currently a lawyer in private practice.
Najib had also previously mounted numerous unsuccessful legal bids to remove Sri Ram as a lead member of the prosecution team in the former prime minister’s RM2.28 billion 1MDB corruption trial and 1MDB audit report trial.
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