PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has dismissed an application by Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor to recuse the then-High Court judge who presided over her RM1.25bil corruption trial linked to a solar hybrid project in Sarawak.
A three-judge panel chaired by Justice Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim unanimously rejected Rosmah's application, ruling that it lacked merit.
Justice Ahmad Zaidi said the crux of Rosmah's application to recuse then-High Court judge Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan was a draft judgment in her case that was allegedly prepared by a third party and leaked to the public before its official delivery.
He said the court considered both the draft judgment and the full 116-page grounds of judgment by Justice Mohamed Zaini.
“After going through both documents, it was clear to us that there was a stark difference between them.
This shows that the trial judge prepared his own judgment without using the third party's draft, consistent with what he (the judge) has stated.
Therefore, at the High Court level, the respondent has successfully shown there is no real danger of bias by the trial judge in this instance,” Justice Ahmad Zaidi said.
After considering submissions from both parties, the panel found that the appellant had failed to prove merit in the appeal.
“We hereby dismiss the appeal and uphold the High Court's decision,” Justice Ahmad Zaidi said.
The bench also included Justices Azman Abdullah and Noorin Badaruddin.
The wife of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak appealed against Justice Mohamed Zaini's decision, now a Court of Appeal judge, in dismissing her application for his recusal from presiding over her case.
Rosmah filed the recusal application just before Justice Mohamed Zaini was slated to deliver his decision on Sept 1, 2022.
On the same day, she was found guilty of three corruption charges linked to the solar hybrid project and sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined RM970mil, in default of 30 years in prison.
Rosmah was charged with one count of soliciting RM187.5mil and two counts of receiving RM6.5mil in bribes from former Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin, all linked to the solar hybrid project.
She was granted a stay of execution on the sentences pending her appeal against her conviction and sentence at the Court of Appeal.
