FORMER Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC) director N. Sundra Rajoo today had three counts of criminal breach of trust, involving RM1 million, dismissed by the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court.

Judge Azura Alwi dismissed the prosecution’s request for further case management pending the government’s appeal before the Court of Appeal, reported Free Malaysia Today.

She said she is bound by a high court ruling on December 31 last year that Sundra Rajoo has immunity against suits and other legal processes, including civil and criminal proceedings.

She ordered his bail money to be refunded, and his passport returned to him.

Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Zaki Mohd Salleh earlier asked the court to defer the hearing to another date, saying an appeal has been filed against the December 31 ruling.

Sundra Rajoo’s lead counsel, Baljit Sidhu, objected to this, arguing that the sessions court must abide by the high court ruling, and failure to do so by the lower court constitutes contempt.

In the high court decision, judge Mariana Yahaya said Sundra Rajoo, in his capacity as a former high officer of AIAC, has immunity that cannot be arbitrarily waived, when quashing the prosecution’s three charges of CBT.

She said he is immune from any legal process, and the criminal action taken against him by the public prosecutor contravenes Act 485, or the International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities) Act 1992.

Sundra Rajoo was head of AIAC, formerly known as Kuala Lumpur Centre for Regional Arbitration, from 2010 till late 2018.

Last March, he pleaded not guilty to the three counts of CBT, allegedly committed on the AIAC premises in Kuala Lumpur between August 17 and December 8, 2018.

He then sought a declaration that he is entitled to immunity from prosecution for acts and omissions while in office.

Mariana also allowed an application for a judicial review of the charges against Sundra Rajoo, adding that the attorney-general’s powers to prosecute are not unlimited.

The high court issued an order prohibiting the sessions court, where he was charged, from proceeding with the case and any other proceedings for acts committed during his term at AIAC.

His lawyers have argued that his immunity cannot be waived under Act 485, and neither a current acting director nor any officer with AIAC can strip him of this protection. – January 22, 2020.