Oct 8 hearing for bid to overturn Bar’s challenge against DNAA decision

PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court will hear on Oct 8 the attorney-general’s application for leave to appeal against a Court of Appeal ruling allowing the Malaysian Bar to challenge his decision to grant deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) in his Yayasan Akalbudi corruption case.

All parties were directed to file their written submissions by Sept 23 during case management before deputy registrar Rahimah Rahim today.

Senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly and counsel for the Malaysian Bar Abhilaash Subramaniam confirmed the hearing date.

Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar is seeking leave to appeal under Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964, arguing that the matter raises legal questions of public importance that require determination by the apex court.

Leave to appeal to the Federal Court is granted only where a case involves novel constitutional or legal issues of sufficient public importance.

Dusuki has proposed two questions of law, while Zahid, who is also a respondent in the judicial review proceedings, has separately filed his own leave application raising seven legal questions.

Both applications will be heard on the same day.

Both are seeking to overturn the Court of Appeal’s decision and restore the High Court’s June 27, 2024 ruling, which dismissed the Malaysian Bar’s application for leave to commence judicial review proceedings against the DNAA granted to Zahid in 2023.

On May 7, the Court of Appeal ruled that the Malaysian Bar had met the legal threshold for its challenge to proceed to a full hearing before the High Court.

A three-member bench comprising Justices Faizah Jamaludin, Lim Hock Leng and Nadzrin Wok Nordin held that the DNAA order issued by Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah, following an application by the prosecution, was a procedural order made during criminal proceedings.

Zahid was granted a DNAA on all 47 charges involving alleged criminal breach of trust, corruption and money laundering linked to Yayasan Akalbudi, pending further investigations by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

In January, the Attorney-General’s Chambers announced that the case had been classified as requiring no further action.