FORMER prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and two others have lost their appeal in the misfeasance in public office suit filed against Prime Minister Najib Razak at the Court of Appeal today.

The three-member appellate bench upheld the decision of the High Court in agreeing that Najib could not be considered as a public officer, and the RM2.642 billion suit could not stand, reports MalaysiaKini today.

In April this year, the Kuala Lumpur High Court had also deemed the prime minister to not be a public officer.

“We agree with the learned (High Court) judge’s decision. There is no merit in the appeal. We affirm the decision of the High Court,” said justice Idrus Harun, who presided over the bench.

The other judges in the three-man bench were Rahman Sebli and Vernon Ong, all which unanimously agreed “with counsel (for Najib) Cecil Abraham’s submissions and affirmed the High Court order on April 28”.

Abraham had told the court earlier that Mahathir did not provide enough basis to bring an action for misfeasance in public office.

However, Mahathir’s lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdulla argued that the court should not limit itself to the interpretation of the term “public officer” and “public office” based on the local law and Federal Constitution.

The appeals court also ordered the plaintiffs to pay cost amounting to RM20,000. Haniff said they would be appealing the decision today.

In their statement of claim filed last year, Mahathir, Khairuddin and Anina said they were the rightful parties to take action against Najib as they had traced the chronology of the 1MDB investigations dating back to March 2015, from the formation of a special task force to the dismissal of the attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail and deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

In April, the High Court struck out the trio’s suit against Najib, on the grounds that he is “not a public officer although he is in public office”.

In the 31-page written judgment, Justice Abu Bakar Jais said “public officer” and “public office”, in the Interpretation Act was only applicable to the class of civil servants as stated under Article 132 (1) of the Constitution.

“Clearly the defendant (Najib) is not a member of any services listed in the Constitution,” he said.

Justice Abu Bakar added Article 132(3) had stated the public service excluded the office of any member of the administration in the Federation or state.

He said Article 160 (2) further states that a member of the administration in Putrajaya is meant to be a person holding the office of minister (which includes prime minister), deputy minister or parliamentary secretary and political secretary.

“These provisions, he said, cumulatively would indicate that Najib was not a public officer and did not hold public office.

“It may be most surprising and quite unpalatable to swallow for many on the street that the defendant in his capacity as prime minister or minister of finance is not a public officer in public office,” Abu Bakar had said.

In an immediate reaction, Mahathir’s lawyer, Haniff Khatri Abdulla, said they would appeal against the decision today.

 The appeals court ordered the plaintiffs to also pay cost amounting to RM20,000. – August 30, 2017.