TWO judicial review bids to recuse Gopal Sri Ram as prosecutor will use Mohamed Apandi Ali’s affidavit, in which the former attorney-general said there was an attempt shortly before the 2018 general election to coax him to charge then prime minister Najib Razak.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court today allowed Apandi’s affidavit to be used in the applications by Najib and his lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who are challenging the legality of Sri Ram’s appointment as senior deputy public prosecutor.

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

Justice Mariana Yahya set July 13 for a full day’s hearing.

“We have given notice to use (Apandi’s) affidavit,” said Shafee after meeting Mariana in chambers, adding that the affidavit was served to prosecutors yesterday.

“The court will give time for (prosecutors) from the AGC (Attorney-General’s Chambers) to take instructions and reply.”

He said Sri Ram’s reply to Apandi’s affidavit will be filed by Monday, and will be included in the case.

“The reason this is important is because Sri Ram is still prosecuting. If there is a problem with his appointment, then all his cases are nullified because he appears as a prosecutor in 1MDB and all that. It would be wasted,” he said, referring to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd trial.

“I don’t want to waste time and restart everything.”

Sri Ram, a former Federal Court judge, leads the prosecution in Najib’s 1MDB trial, which resumes tomorrow. 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 the attorney-general’s decision to appoint Sri Ram as a 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 all their cases, including for corruption, abuse of power and money-laundering.

The Federal Court last October dismissed the AGC’s appeal against the high court decision granting Najib and Shafee leave for a judicial review to challenge Sri Ram’s appointment.

Najib’s 2 bids against Sri Ram

There is another judicial review application by Najib seeking a review of former attorney-general Tommy Thomas’ 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 will also be used to show that Thomas exercised his decision-making powers inappropriately.

The affidavit follows similar claims Apandi made this month in a Facebook post, where he said Sri Ram tried to coax him to have Najib arrested for corruption just months before the 2018 elections.

Apandi told The Malaysian Insight that he published the post to “check Sri Ram’s behaviour” in court.

In later court filings, Najib’s lawyers argued that the Pekan MP’s trials have been compromised due to political persecution, prosecutorial misconduct and bias.

Najib, who turns 67 next month, faces 42 charges in five criminal trials, three of which are ongoing. Sri Ram leads the prosecution in two of these trials, including the 1MDB audit report-tampering case. – June 29, 2020.