PUTRAJAYA: Former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has failed in his bid to review the decision by a previous Court of Appeal panel that reinstated four abuse of power charges against him linked to the misappropriation of RM232.5mil.
A five-member panel at the Court of Appeal, chaired by Justice Azizah Nawawi, said the earlier panel had the requisite jurisdiction to hear and adjudicate the prosecution's appeal that was brought before it.
"Therefore, the application for review is dismissed," she said here on Wednesday (Sept 11).
This means Muhyiddin will have to face his criminal case that has been remitted back to the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court.
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In the unanimous decision, Justice Azizah said Muhyiddin's application for review was premised on the issue of lack of jurisdiction as he claimed the previous appellate court panel had acted beyond its statutory conferred jurisdiction.
The panel said by applying a literal interpretation, Muhyiddin had contended that the decision by the High Court judge (who acquitted him) in invoking the judge's inherent jurisdiction to quash his charges did not fall within the ambit of Subsection 50(1) of the Court of Judicature Act (CJA) 1964.
This was because the High Court was not exercising its revisionary powers regarding any criminal matter decided by the Sessions Court, it added.
(Muhyiddin was acquitted by the High Court after it allowed his application to quash the charges, before the trial had begun at the Sessions Court.)
"We are of the considered opinion that such interpretation will lead to an absurdity that was not intended by the Parliament.
"If the applicant is correct, that there can be no appeal against the decision of the learned judge in dismissing the charges and acquitting the applicant, it would simply mean that the High Court has an unlimited jurisdiction to quash a criminal charge and acquit an accused person without trial.
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"Further it would lead to an absurd situation where the prosecution is left without any remedy as the propriety and correctness of the said decision of the High Court judge can never be challenged," Justice Azizah said.
The panel said Subsection 50(1) of the CJA could not be read in isolation and that all the relevant provisions on revisionary powers of the High Court must be read together as a whole and construed harmoniously with one another to avoid ambiguity or absurdity in the application of law.
"For the aforesaid reasons, we are of the considered opinion that the respondent's appeal (the prosecution) against the decision of the learned High Court judge falls within the ambit of Subsection 50(1) of the CJA," Justice Azizah said.
Other judges on the bench were Justices Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali, Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim, Azman Abdullah and Azhahari Kamal Ramli.
On Aug 15 last year, High Court judge Justice Muhammad Jamil Hussin acquitted and discharged Muhyiddin on four counts of abuse of power, involving RM232.5mil, in connection with the Jana Wibawa project.
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The prosecution filed an appeal on the same day with the Court of Appeal.
On Feb 28, a three-member panel at the Court of Appeal overturned Muhyiddin's acquittal and ordered that the charges be reinstated.
On April 19, Muhyiddin’s lawyers wrote to the Court of Appeal President requesting a five-member panel to hear his application for a review as there were important issues of law on jurisdiction to be determined.
In the notice of motion, Muhyiddin said the decision of the Court of Appeal was a nullity or illegality as it was made without the jurisdiction as required under Section 50(1) of the CJA.
Muhyiddin, 76, was charged with using his position as the then prime minister and Bersatu president to obtain bribes amounting to RM232.5mil from three companies, namely Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd and Mamfor Sdn Bhd, and also from one Datuk Azman Yusoff, for the party.
He was charged with committing the offences at the Prime Minister’s Office, Bangunan Perdana Putra, Federal Government Administration Centre in Putrajaya between March 1, 2020 and Aug 20, 2021.
