[UPDATED] Appellate court denies Rosmah’s appeal to challenge solar graft case

PUTRAJAYA – The Court of Appeal dismissed Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor’s appeal for leave to proceed with her judicial review application to disqualify the late Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram as lead counsel in her graft case linked to the RM1.25 billion solar hybrid energy project.

Justice See Mee Chun said the wife of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak was out of time to file the challenge.

The three-member Court of Appeal bench dismissed the wife of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s bid on the grounds that her appeal has no merit.

See said Rosmah should have filed the judicial review latest on May 21, 2021 when Attorney-General (AG) Tan Sri Idrus Harun issued a fiat that Sri Ram is also appointed to prosecute Rosmah. 

She said there was no merit in the appeal and dismissed it with costs of RM10,000 to be paid to the AG and public prosecutor. 

Sri Ram died on January 28 at the age of 79, in a private hospital here following a lung infection. 

Rosmah’s lead counsel Datuk Akberdin Abdul Kader in his submissions said Rosmah was adversely affected by the appointment of Sri Ram as the senior deputy public prosecutor by the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), considering all three versions of fiat were contradictory with each other and against the law. 

He said the appointment was clearly not in accordance with the law and violated Rosmah’s fundamental rights under the federal constitution to a fair trial. 

On September 1 last year, the high court in Kuala Lumpur convicted Rosmah in the graft case and sentenced her to 10 years of imprisonment and RM970 million fine. 

However, she obtained a stay of execution against the sentencing, and her separate criminal appeal against this guilty verdict is set for hearing before the Court of Appeal on July 11. 

Prior to applying for the judicial review, Rosmah had applied to disqualify Sri Ram but it was dismissed by judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan who presided over her solar hybrid corruption trial. Her appeals to the Court of Appeal and Federal Court were also dismissed. 

On Sept 1, 2022, Zaini found Rosmah guilty of the corruption charges and sentenced her to 10 years in jail and a fine of RM970 million. 

Rosmah was charged with soliciting RM187.5 million and two counts of accepting bribes amounting to RM6.5 million from Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin through her former aide Datuk Rizal Mansor as a reward for helping Jepak Holdings secure a RM1.25 billion project to provide solar hybrid energy in 369 schools in rural Sarawak. – The Vibes, June 22, 2023