ROSMAH Mansor’s attempt to initiate a judicial review to challenge the appointment of the late Gopal Sri Ram, the lead prosecutor in the RM1.25 billion solar energy project case, has been dismissed by the Court of Appeal.

Hanipah Farikullah, who led the three-member bench, unanimously denied leave to former prime minister Najib Razak’s wife, saying her appeal has no merit.

The bench, which included Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali and See Mee Chun, today delivered their decision on Rosmah’s appeal against the decision of the High Court (civil jurisdiction) on August 30 last year.

Rosmah’s lead counsel Akberdin Abdul Kader in his submissions said his client was adversely affected by the appointment of Sri Ram as the lead prosecutor by the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), considering all three versions of fiat were contradictory with each other and against the law.

He said the appointment was clearly not in accordance with the law and violated Rosmah’s fundamental rights under the Federal Constitution to a fair trial.

To this, senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan responded that Rosmah must file her judicial review within three months from the date when grounds for the application first arose as stipulated under Order 53 Rule 3 (6) of the Rules of Court 2012.

Sri Ram died in January this year, at the age of 79, in a private hospital following a lung infection.

Last year, Rosmah was convicted in the graft case for soliciting RM187.5 million and two counts of accepting bribes amounting to RM6.5 million from Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin through her former aide Rizal Mansor. This was a reward for helping Jepak Holdings secure a RM1.25 billion project to provide solar hybrid energy in 369 schools in rural Sarawak.

She was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment and fined a record RM970 million.

Rosmah, however, obtained a stay of execution against the sentencing, and her criminal appeal against the guilty verdict is set for hearing before the Appellate Court on July 11.

The Court of Appeal bench also ordered Rosmah to pay RM10,000 in costs to the AGC. –  June 22, 2023.