[UPDATED] Court tosses Shafee’s objection to CoA judge, SRC review hearing resumes

PUTRAJAYA – The Federal Court’s hearing for Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s review application to overturn his conviction and sentence in his SRC International Sdn Bhd graft case resumed this afternoon after the apex bench dismissed the defence’s objection to one of the judges on the panel.

Panel chairman justice Datuk Abdul Rahman Sebli said the panel was not persuaded that justice Datuk Abu Bakar Jais should not hear the review because he was not a Federal Court judge.

“The law as prescribed under Article 122(2) of the federal constitution clearly states that the chief justice can appoint a Court of Appeal judge to sit as a presiding judge in the Federal Court in the interest of justice,” said Rahman, who is also the chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak.

With this, the review of Najib’s case that was delayed this morning by the defence’s objection, began after 2pm today when the court resumed after an adjournment earlier.

This morning, Shafee – citing the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 – raised concerns over Abu Bakar, saying that as a Court of Appeal judge, the latter should not be on the review panel.

In a counter-argument, deputy public prosecutor Datuk V. Sithambaram said that Article 122 of the federal constitution allowed the chief justice to appoint a Court of Appeal judge to sit as a judge in the Federal Court in the interest of justice.

Shafee then put up more arguments until the court took a break and resumed this afternoon with its decision to retain Abu Bakar and resume the review hearing.

This is Najib’s last attempt to undo his conviction, as he has already exhausted his appeal at the Federal Court in August. 

Besides panel chair Rahman and Abu Bakar, the rest of the five-person review panel today comprises justices Datuk Vernon Ong Lam Kiat, Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang, and Datuk Nordin Hassan.

As Najib is seeking a review, the panel is different from the bench headed by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, which upheld the former prime minister’s conviction and sentence in August last year. – The Vibes, January 19, 2023