THE High Court in Kuala Lumpur will rule on a filing for a judicial review to recuse Gopal Sri Ram from leading the prosecution of former prime minister Najib Razak in the remaining 1Malaysia Development Bhd cases on August 28.

Najib and his lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, are challenging the legality of Sri Ram’s appointment as senior deputy public prosecutor, with arguments to be heard by Justice Mariana Yahya.

A judicial review is a proceeding in court to challenge a government or ministerial decision.

Sri Ram, a former Federal Court judge, leads the prosecution in Najib’s 1MDB trial. He also leads the prosecution in Shafee’s RM9.5 million money-laundering case, which has yet to begin trial.

Najib and Shafee separately filed for judicial reviews in December 2018 to challenge then Attorney-General Tommy Thomas’s decision to appoint Sri Ram as DPP under Section 376(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

They named the attorney-general/public prosecutor, government and Sri Ram as respondents, and are seeking a court order to revoke Sri Ram’s appointment or recuse him on the basis that his letter of appointment is invalid.

They also want a declaration that there is a conflict of interest in Sri Ram’s appointment and an order to prohibit him from leading the prosecution in any of their cases, including for corruption, abuse of power and money-laundering.

Former attorney-general Apandi Ali’s affidavit was used to bolster Najib’s case. Apandi alleged Sri Ram tried to coax him to have Najib arrested for corruption just months before the 2018 general election.

During oral submissions earlier today, senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan argued that Apandi’s affidavit cannot be used as his allegations took place before Tommy Thomas was appointed attorney-general in 2018.

Shafee countered by saying Sri Ram’s alleged past misconduct could still affect whether he is a fit and proper person to act as prosecutor.

The lawyer argued that the Pekan MP’s trials have been compromised due to political persecution, prosecutorial misconduct and bias.

There is another judicial review application by Najib seeking a review of Thomas’s appointment of Sri Ram as a full-time prosecutor for the government.

This application, set to be heard before Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan on August 7, sees the former prime minister seeking Sri Ram’s disqualification on the grounds of bias.

Apandi’s affidavit was also used to show that Thomas exercised his decision-making powers inappropriately.

On Tuesday, Najib was convicted at Kuala Lumpur High Court for illegally receiving RM42 million in SRC International funds. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined RM210 million. He has said he will appeal the verdict. – July 30, 2020.