PETALING JAYA: Bersatu has been granted leave by the Kuala Lumpur High Court to challenge the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) seizure of the party’s accounts.
Justice Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid ruled that Bersatu has shown there is a prima facie case to challenge the legality of the seizure orders.
The judge made the decision during proceedings conducted online yesterday.
Bersatu was represented by lawyers Rosli Dahlan, Chetan Jethwani, Amiratu Al Amirat and Tang Jia Yearn, while senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly and federal counsel Imtiyaz Auni appeared for the Attorney General’s Chambers.
On May 30, Bersatu was granted leave to challenge the freezing orders imposed on its accounts. Both the judicial review on the freezing orders issued in January and the seizure orders issued on April 11 will be fixed for common case management on Nov 28.
In judicial review applications, Bersatu argued that the actions by the MACC were politically motivated, alleging that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had wanted to cripple the party to ensure it would not have sufficient funds for elections.
Bersatu had filed a further affidavit to point out that on Aug 15, its president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had been discharged and acquitted after the High Court found that his charges were “defective and vague.”
As such, the party’s lawyers argued that the continuous freezing and seizure of Bersatu’s accounts is mala fide.
Earlier this year, Bersatu filed the first application for a judicial review, naming the MACC and 16 of its officers as respondents after the party’s bank accounts were frozen.
