Muda fails in bid to refer probe on judge Nazlan to Federal Court

The High Court today dismissed an application by Muda to refer constitutional issues regarding the investigation into judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali to the Federal Court.

Judge Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid dismissed it after finding that there was no merit by Muda to refer the constitutional issues to the Federal Court.

The judge said the proposed questions have become academic since the MACC’s view has been superseded by the Federal Court's decision in former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's SRC International Sdn Bhd case.

"Therefore, this court opines that the proposed questions should not be entertained by this court nor referred to the Federal Court under Section 84 of Act 91 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964," he said.

According to Ahmad Kamal, the power to interpret constitutional provisions is not exclusively within the Federal Court's ambit.

"Under the constitutional scheme, the Federal Court is generally a court of last resort for all constitutional questions. Therefore, this court finds that the applicant's application has no merit in law and hereby dismissed," he added.

The court fixed Feb 6 for case management.

On April 25 last year, Muda applied to refer constitutional issues to determine whether MACC has the authority to investigate a serving superior court judge for breaching the Judges’ Code of Ethics 2009 and presiding over a case despite a conflict of interest.

Muda as the plaintiff filed the originating summons on April 12 last year, seeking a declaration that the MACC has no authority or jurisdiction to investigate a finding or view that serving judges of the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Federal Court have breached the Judges’ Code of Ethics 2009 and were in conflict of interest in presiding over a particular court case.

The party is also seeking a declaration that the MACC’s finding or view that Nazlan had been in breach of the Code of Ethics or had a conflict of interest in presiding over SRC International Sdn Bhd cases, is unlawful and unconstitutional.

- Bernama

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