AG, Zahid get leave to appeal ruling allowing Bar’s challenge on corruption charges

The attorney-general (AG) and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi have been granted leave to appeal an appellate court ruling allowing the Malaysian Bar to challenge the decision to discontinue 47 corruption charges against the Umno president.

The Federal Court ruled that the AG and Zahid had crossed the threshold required under Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964.

Leave to appeal to the apex court is granted only when a case raises a novel constitutional or legal question of public importance warranting its determination.

A three-member bench chaired by Chief Judge of Malaya Hashim Hamzah, with Justices Nordin Hassan and Ruzima Ghazali, said the AG’s prosecutorial powers under Article 145(3) of the Federal Constitution had been challenged in this case.

Hashim said the High Court applied a two-stage threshold, which held that the AG’s prosecutorial decisions may be subject to judicial review in rare and exceptional circumstances.

The Court of Appeal, however, applied a single-stage test under Order 53 of the Rules of Court 2012, while exercising discipline, caution and restraint when dealing with the AG’s prosecutorial powers, he said.

“We are of the view that the present case raises novel constitutional issues of public importance, their new application, and final determination by this court,” Hashim said.

On May 7, the Court of Appeal unanimously allowed the Malaysian Bar’s appeal against the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s refusal to grant leave for judicial review.

The appellate court said the challenge was directed at the “executive root” – the AG’s decision to discontinue the prosecution – rather than the criminal court’s subsequent order granting Zahid a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA).

Zahid was granted a DNAA on all 47 charges in September 2023.

Senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly and federal counsel Imtiyaz Wizni Aufa Othman appeared for the AG.

Ambiga Sreenevasan, Steven Thiru, S Sivaneindiren, Gregory Das and Abhilaash Subramaniam represented the Bar.

Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, Ahmad Zaidi Zainal, Guok Ngek Seng and six others acted for Zahid.

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