THE Court of Appeal upheld the acquittal of former prime minister Najib Razak and former 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy over the alleged tampering of the auditor-general’s 1MDB audit report.

The appellate court struck out the prosecution’s two notices of appeal. 

A three-member Court of Appeal panel chaired by Justice Hadhariah Syed Ismail said it is because the prosecution did not file the petition of appeal when the deadline approached on July 6.

“The prosecution until today also did not file any application for an extension of time.

“The notices of appeal are deemed to have lapsed and become invalid according to law. As such, we struck down the notices of appeal (filed on March 9),” she ruled. 

Also on the bench with Hadhariah were Justices Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim and Azmi Ariffin.

On March 9, the prosecution had filed a notice of appeal against the High Court’s decision to acquit and release Najib and Arul Kanda after judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan (now a Court of Appeal judge) ruled that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against the duo.

In his ruling on March 3, the judge said Arul Kanda, who was called in as a prosecution witness, had made truthful and full discovery during the trial.

Najib, 70, who is serving a 12-year jail sentence in Kajang prison for misappropriating SRC International Sdn Bhd’s funds, was charged with using his position to order amendments to the 1MDB final audit report before it was presented to the Public Accounts Committee to prevent any action from being taken against him.

Arul Kanda, 46, was charged with abetting Najib in making the amendments to the report to protect Najib from being subjected to action.

The offence was allegedly committed at the Prime Minister’s Department Complex in Putrajaya between February 22 and 26, 2016. 

Both of them were charged under section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009, which provides for a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine of no less than five times the amount of gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher. – September 12, 2023.