Application to Federal Court on immunity of PM in sexual assault lawsuit
PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has withdrawn his appeal against a ruling that blocked him from a question of law over the legal immunity of a Prime Minister to the Federal Court in a sexual assault lawsuit.
Following the withdrawal, Court of Appeal judge Justice Wong Kian Kheong – who chaired a three-judge panel – ordered Anwar to pay RM50,000 in costs to Muhammed Yusoff Rawther by 5pm on April 6.
“We struck out the appeal with costs,” Justice Wong said here yesterday.
Other judges on the panel were Justices Azmi Ariffin and Latifah Mohd Tahar.
The application to refer the questions of law was filed in relation to a lawsuit brought by Muhammed Yusoff, a former research assistant, who accused Anwar of sexual assault eight years ago.
Earlier, Anwar’s lawyer Sanjay Mohan informed the Court of Appeal of his client’s intention to withdraw the appeal and asked the court to fix RM15,000 in costs.
Lawyer Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali, who represented Muhammed Yusoff, however, disagreed, saying that the court must consider the time that was wasted and submissions already written.
He asked for RM150,000 in costs.
In the application filed in May 2025, Anwar sought a court ruling on whether Muhammed Yusoff’s lawsuit would impair the effective discharge of his executive duties and undermine the constitutional separation of powers.
Anwar claimed that the lawsuit was a “manufactured claim” and that he was the victim of “politically motivated reputational sabotage”.
In his application, Anwar wanted the Federal Court to rule that the High Court was obliged to hold a “threshold inquiry” to determine whether the suit constitutes an abuse of process or a threat to the public’s interest and, if so, whether it must be stayed or dismissed “to preserve constitutional governance”.
He also sought to determine whether he, as the sitting Prime Minister, was entitled under Article 5(1) of the Constitution to protection from a vexatious litigant.
Anwar’s application was based on a lawsuit filed by Muhammed Yusoff on July 14, 2021, where he accused Anwar of sexually assaulting him.
In his statement of claim, Muhammed Yusoff alleged that the sexual assault took place on Oct 2, 2018, at Anwar’s residence in Segambut.
Muhammed Yusoff alleged that, because of the incident, he was accused of conspiring to undermine Anwar and harm the political career of the PKR president, which adversely affected his mental health.
He sought special, general, aggravated and exemplary damages, as well as interest, costs and other relief deemed fit by the court.
Anwar had also filed a counterclaim against Muhammed Yusoff.
In his statement of defence, Anwar said the allegations against him were “utterly false and fabricated”.
He claimed the alleged sexual assault could not have happened because he was entertaining family and friends at his Bukit Segambut residence.
At a press conference after the court proceedings yesterday, Muhammad Rafique said that his client’s lawsuit has been fixed for case management on April 8 before High Court judge Justice Raja Ahmad Mohzanuddin Shah Raja Mohzan.
