THE Kuala Lumpur High Court today dismissed Muda’s application to refer constitutional issues regarding the investigation of judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali to the Federal Court.

Judge Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid dismissed it after finding no merit by Muda to refer the issues to the apex court.

The judge said the proposed questions have become academic since the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) view was superseded by the Federal Court’s decision in former prime minister Najib Razak’s SRC International Sdn Bhd case.

“This court opines the proposed questions should not be entertained by this court nor referred to the Federal Court under section 84 of act 91 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964,” Kamal said.

He said the power to interpret constitutional provisions was not exclusively within the Federal Court’s ambit.

“Under the constitutional scheme, the Federal Court is generally a court of last resort for all constitutional questions. Therefore, this court finds (Muda’s) application has no merit in law and hereby dismissed,” he said.

The court fixed February 6 for case management.

On April 25 last year, Muda applied to refer constitutional issues to determine if the MACC had the authority to investigate a serving superior court judge for breaching the Judges’ Code of Ethics 2009 and presiding over a case despite a conflict of interest.

Muda as the plaintiff filed the originating summons on April 12, seeking a declaration the MACC had no authority or jurisdiction to investigate a finding or view that serving judges of the High Court, Court of Appeal or Federal Court have breached the Judges’ Code of Ethics 2009 and were in conflict of interest in presiding over a case.

Muda also sought a declaration the MACC’s finding or view, that Nazlan had been in breach of the code of ethics or had a conflict of interest in presiding over SRC International cases, was unlawful and unconstitutional. – Bernama, January 17, 2024.