PUTRAJAYA: Former Umno supreme council member Datuk Lokman Nor Adam (pic) has failed in his bid to set aside the leave obtained by the Attorney General in a committal proceedings against him.
A five-man bench at the Federal Court chaired by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat dismissed his appeal during an online hearing via Zoom here on Thursday (Jan 14).
The proceedings was initiated against Lokman by then attorney general Tan Sri Tommy Thomas for allegedly threatening a key prosecution witness, Datuk Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin, in former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) case.
In the unanimous decision, Tengku Maimun said there was no reason to disturb the findings from the courts below.
"The appellant had claimed that the cause papers for the contempt application was inadequate and defective, however, on this matter the court ruled that the papers were sufficient to inform him of the contempt allegations that he needed to answer and respond to.
“We do not find any prejudice occasioned to the appellant. Appeal is dismissed, ” Tengku Maimun said.
Other judges on the bench were Federal Court judges Justice Vernon Ong Lam Kiat, Zaleha Yusof, Abdul Rahman Sebli and Hasnah Mohammed Hashim.
When contacted, Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohamad Mustaffa P. Kunyalam, who appeared for the Attorney General’s Chamber, said this would mean the proceedings at the High Court would proceed with a hearing of the merits of the contempt application.
“The case has been set for mention on Jan 27 before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah, ” he said.
On Jan 14, last year, the High Court dismissed Lokman’s application to set aside the leave to initiate committal proceedings against him which was obtained by Thomas on Oct 22,2019.
Lokman appealed the decision at the Court of Appeal but it was dismissed on May 13, last year.
On May 18, last year, he filed for leave to appeal at the Federal Court, which was decided on today.
In the application to initiate the committal proceedings, Thomas alleged that Lokman had been in contempt of court which was perpetrated on two occasions on Sept 25,2019.
The then AG said Lokman had uttered words in a video interview that implied a threat against Amhari, who was Najib’s former special officer, for having given evidence against the Pekan MP in the 1MDB trial where Najib is accused of misappropriating RM2.28bil.
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