The Malaysian Insight

THE Kuala Lumpur High Court will hear on June 16 the judicial review applications of Najib Razak and Muhammad Shafee Abdullah to recuse the lead prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram in their respective criminal cases.

Justice Mariana Yahya will preside. 

Deputy registrar Firdaus Sidqi Sharil Azli fixed the date for the hearing during case management today via the court’s online e-review system.

Submissions are to be filed tomorrow, said a member of the legal team representing both applicants.  

The Federal Court in October dismissed the Attorney-General’s Chambers’ appeal against a lower court’s decision granting Najib and Shafee leave for a judicial review to challenge Sri Ram’s appointment.

The former prime minister and the lawyer are challenging the legality of the appointment of Sri Ram as a senior deputy public prosecutor. Sri Ram, a former Federal Court judge, leads the prosecution team in Najib’s 1Malaysia Development Bhd trial, which resumes on June 29.

Sri Ram also leads the prosecution in Shafee’s RM9.5 million money laundering trial, which has yet to begin.

Najib and Shafee separately filed for the judicial review in December 2018 to challenge the attorney-general’s decision to appoint Sri Ram as a deputy public prosecutor under Section 376 (3) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

They named the attorney-general/public prosecutor, the government and Sri Ram as the respondents.

They are seeking a court order to revoke Sri Ram’s appointment or recuse him on the basis that  his letter of appointment is invalid.

They also seek a declaration of a conflict of interest in Sri Ram’s appointment, and an order to prohibit Sri Ram from leading the prosecution team in all their cases, including for corruption, abuse of power and money laundering. – June 12, 2020.