THE Court of Appeal is set to deliver its decision today on Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor’s application to recuse Justice Datuk Mohamed Zaini Mazlan from presiding over her RM1.25 billion solar hybrid corruption case.
Rosmah, 74, was convicted on 1 September 2022 by Justice Zaini, who is now a Court of Appeal judge, and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment and fined RM970 million after being found guilty of three graft charges involving a project to supply solar energy to 369 rural schools in Sarawak.
Should the court allow the application to remove Justice Zaini from the case, a retrial could be ordered before a new trial judge.
If the decision does not go in her favour, Rosmah would still have one final opportunity to appeal the matter at the Federal Court.
A three-member panel led by Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim, sitting with Datuk Azman Abdullah and Datuk Noorin Badaruddin, is scheduled to announce the ruling at 9am.
At the original trial, Justice Zaini sentenced Rosmah to 10 years’ jail on each of the three charges. However, the sentences are to run concurrently, meaning she would serve only 10 years in total. The judge also imposed a fine of RM970 million. Failure to pay the fine could result in an additional 30 years' imprisonment.
Rosmah was convicted of soliciting RM187.5 million and receiving bribes totalling RM6.5 million from Saidi Abang Samsudin, the former managing director of Jepak Holdings.
However, the High Court granted a stay of execution on the sentence and fine pending her appeal at the Court of Appeal.
Rosmah’s legal team, comprising Datuk Jagjit Singh, Datuk Akberdin Abdul Kader, Azrul Zulkifli Stork, and Datuk Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin, argued that Justice Zaini should recuse himself due to a purported leak of the draft judgment just two days before it was officially delivered.
They submitted a voluminous 700-page written argument in support of their appeal. The prosecution was represented by Deputy Public Prosecutor K. Mangai.
Previously, Rosmah’s lawyers urged the court to hear the appeal on the judge’s recusal before proceeding with the main appeal against her conviction and sentence.
In related developments, Rosmah recently won a defamation suit against a TikTok user who falsely accused her of practising black magic. The user was ordered to pay RM100,000 in damages. -September 17, 2025
