Court reserves decision on Tommy Thomas' bid to recuse judge in Shahrir's suit
PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal today reserved its decision on former attorney-general (A-G)
Tan Sri Tommy Thomas' bid to recuse a High Court judge from presiding over Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad's malicious prosecution suit against him.
A three-member bench led by Datuk Supang Lian said the court required time to deliberate on the "weighty and substantial" issues raised by both parties.
The other members of the panel were appellate court judges Datuk Faizah Jamaludin and Datuk Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin.
Lawyer Allan Gomez, representing the former A-G, submitted that High Court judge Roz Mawar Rozain should recuse herself from hearing the case due to potential bias.
He said that the judge had made premature and unsubstantiated determinations in pre-trial rulings that went beyond the pleadings, potentially compromising the integrity of the upcoming trial.
Meanwhile, Datuk Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin, who appeared for Shahrir, contended that Roz Mawar had made no such determinations.
He submitted that the judge merely ruled the matters raised deserved to be ventilated further in a full trial.
The appellate court fixed June 12 for case management.
Roz Mawar had earlier dismissed Thomas' recusal application in January this year, ruling that it lacked merit.
This followed her decision in July 2024 to also reject Thomas' application to strike out Shahrir's suit.
She ruled that the former Johor Baru member of Parliament's claim did not amount to an abuse of court process and should be heard in full.
Shahrir filed the suit against Thomas, former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Latheefa Koya, the MACC and the government, citing malicious prosecution, malicious investigation, and wrongful arrest.
He alleged that Thomas had prematurely authorised his prosecution before the investigation was complete, particularly in relation to a charge for allegedly failing to declare RM1 million received from former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to the Inland Revenue Board.
Shahrir was fully acquitted in January 2023 after the prosecution withdrew the case.
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