KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has dismissed Najib's challenge to the appointment of Datuk Sulaiman Abdullah (pic) as lead prosecutor in his corruption case involving SRC International, saying that it lacked merit.
The prosecution in the graft case did not have to provide the letter of authorisation (fiat) on the appointment of its lead prosecutor Datuk Sulaiman Abdullah to the defence, the High Court ruled.
High Court judge Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali said there was no legal requirement for the prosecution to do so, after the former prime minister challenged Sulaiman's appointment.
"The instrument of appointment is only required to be shown to the court and not the accused," he said here on Tuesday (Dec 18).
The court noted that there was "a certain lack of clarity" when it came to the appointment of Sulaiman but pointed out that the Attorney General's Chambers had issued a media release on Aug 31.
"The media release, which bore the name of AG Tommy Thomas, made it crystal clear that Sulaiman was to lead this case.
"I consider this application (by Najib) to be less than meritorious," Justice Mohd Nazlan said.
On the issue that the appointment letter had been classified as an official secret, Justice Mohd Nazlan said documents that have been classified as such under Section 16A of the Official Secrets Act (OSA) 1972 could not be questioned in court.
"In that view, I dismiss this application," he said.
Najib's lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah informed the court that he would be appealing the decision.
The court had earlier heard submissions from both parties on the matter.
In his submissions, Muhammad Shafee questioned whether the media release issued by the AGC relating to Sulaiman's appointment was sufficient as there was no signature at the end.
He also argued that it was a compulsory duty of the prosecution to tender the letter of authorisation before the court.
Sulaiman, in his reply, refused to produce the letter as it has been classified under the OSA.
"AG Thomas had personally prosecuted the matter before and had publicly stated that he was handing the case over to an advocate and solicitor, namely Sulaiman Abdullah," he said, referring to himself.
On July 4, the former prime minister was charged with three counts of criminal breach of trust (CBT) and one charge of abuse of power involving SRC International funds of RM42mil.
Subsequently, on Aug 8, Najib was charged with three counts of money laundering involving the same funds.
Najib later challenged Sulaiman's appointment as the lead prosecutor in his case.
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