The Court of Appeal will hear on April 4 three appeals separately following a High Court ruling which last year denied leave to three applicants, including the Malaysian Bar, to initiate judicial reviews on the powers of the Attorney-General.
Lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdulla, who represented sacked Umno Batu Kawan division vice-chief Khairuddin Abu Hassan, said the date was fixed during mention before Court of Appeal president Raus Shariff.
“All the three appeals will be heard one after another on the same day,” he told reporters after proceedings in chambers.
Senior Federal Counsel Amarjeet Singh represented Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali who is the respondent in all the cases.
The third appellant in this case is former Cabinet minister Zaid Ibrahim.
On Nov 11, High Court judge Hanipah Farikullah dismissed the leave applications to initiate judicial review by the three.
The trio had wanted to challenge Apandi’s decision to close the case following allegations that RM2.6 billion was deposited in Najib Razak’s bank accounts.
The AG had on Jan 26 last year directed the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to close investigations into the case.
Khairuddin in his application also alleged abuse of power in the transfer of funds from Kumpulan Wang Persaraan to SRC International.
Hanipah in her written judgment has said she was bound by a long line of Federal Court rulings why the decision of the AG not to institute criminal proceedings under Article 145(3) of the constitution could not be reviewed by the court.
That provision states that the AG has the discretion to institute, conduct and discontinue any criminal proceedings.
Source : V Anbalagan @ FMT Online
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