PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has adjourned the hearing of Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor's appeal in the RM1.25bil solar hybrid project graft case to Sept 1.
The hearing, initially scheduled for Wednesday (July 1), was adjourned to make way for Rosmah's review application in her attempt to recuse the trial judge who convicted her, Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan, to be decided by the Federal Court.
A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal, chaired by Justice Azhahari Kamal Ramli, unanimously allowed the adjournment but reminded parties that the court would not entertain any more delays.
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He said the court took note of a letter dated Oct 10, 2024, by the Court of Appeal president who instructed an adjournment on the main appeal pending the disposal of Rosmah's review application linked to her attempt to recuse Justice Zaini.
The review application in the recusal matter is fixed for hearing on July 29.
Justice Azhahari said Rosmah's appeal was "an ageing case", dating back to 2022, and stressed that the court would not compromise after fixing the new hearing dates.
"We have fixed the appeal for hearing. We will not allow any further adjournment," he said.
The new hearing dates for the appeal are Sept 1 to 4, Sept 8 to 11, and Sept 21 to 30.
Other judges on the bench were Justices Dr Choo Kah Sing and K. Muniandy.
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The court also took into consideration a personal loss suffered by one of Rosmah's counsel, Datuk Akberdin Abdul Kader, whose son passed away in a car crash in May.
Earlier, co-counsel Datuk Jagjit Singh teared up as he told the court that Akberdin had lost his son, Adli Hakim.
Adli Hakim, 24, was one of three victims in a crash with a cement lorry at KM34 of the Karak Highway on May 22.
Jagjit said Akberdin, who was absent from today's proceedings, was responsible for preparing a large portion of the written submissions and his presence was important to the hearing.
"He (Akberdin) is like my own younger brother. He is still grieving and mourning. We hope the prosecution can understand this situation," Jagjit said.
Deputy public prosecutor K. Mangai said the prosecution was instructed to object to the adjournment as the case has been pending at the appellate court since 2023.
She, however, left it to the court's discretion on Akberdin's situation.
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In March, the Federal Court dismissed Rosmah's bid to recuse Justice Zaini and force a retrial in her graft case, saying there was no appealable error that warranted the apex court’s intervention.
With the decision, Rosmah’s appeal against her conviction and sentence should proceed at the Court of Appeal. Rosmah, however, has filed a review application on the Federal Court's dismissal.
Rosmah attempted to recuse Justice Zaini, now a Court of Appeal judge, following a controversy over a leaked draft judgment in her case.
The judgment had been prepared by the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s research unit before he delivered his decision in Rosmah’s case on Sept 1, 2022.
Justice Zaini found her guilty in the case involving the project in Sarawak and sentenced her to 10 years' jail and a RM970mil fine.
Rosmah made an 11th-hour application to recuse the judge after the leak, claiming the draft was prepared by a third party and leaked before its official delivery.
Her application was shot down by the judge. She later appealed the dismissal at the Court of Appeal, which also turned her down. Rosmah then filed an appeal at the Federal Court.
Rosmah had been 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.
