Anwar allowed interim stay, June 16 civil suit vacated
Published on: Tue, Jun 10, 2025
By: V Anbalagan Text Size: The Court of Appeal said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had shown special circumstances justifying the grant of a stay of the trial. PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has granted Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim an ad-interim stay of a civil suit brought by a former research assistant over an alleged assault. The temporary stay is pending a full hearing of the prime minister's application, which will take place on July 21.
Advertisement A three-member bench chaired by Justice Supang Lian said Anwar had shown special circumstances to justify the grant of the application. 'We are of the considered view that under Section 44 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964, we are empowered to make an ad-interim order to preserve the integrity of the appellant's (Anwar) stay. 'Accordingly, the trial in the High Court will be stayed pending the disposal of the stay application,' said Supang. Also on the panel hearing the application were Justices Faizah Jamaludin and Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin. The bench also clarified that parties need not exchange witness statements on Friday (June 13) as directed by High Court judge Roz Mawar Rozain last week, given today's decision. The trial of the suit was scheduled to take place before Roz Mawar over seven days between June 16 and June 25 after she dismissed Anwar's reference application on grounds that none of the questions posed succeeded in crossing the threshold set out in Section 84 of the Courts of Judicature Act. In her 21-page judgment, she said the application was misconceived as to the jurisdiction of the courts, and was based on speculative doctrines with no constitutional footing. The prime minister wanted the apex court to rule on whether Articles 5(1), 8(1), 39, 40 and 43 of the Federal Constitution grant him qualified immunity from the suit filed by Yusoff Rawther four years ago. The suit filed by Yusoff relates to events which allegedly took place before Anwar took office on Nov 24, 2022. Anwar is appealing to the Court of Appeal against Roz Mawar's refusal to refer eight legal questions arising from the suit to the Federal Court for determination. He is seeking a stay of all proceedings pending the disposal of the appeal. Yusoff, a grandson of the late Penang consumer advocate SM Mohamed Idris, claims he was assaulted at Anwar's home in Segambut in October 2018. He is seeking general, special, aggravated and exemplary damages, as well as interest, costs and other relief deemed fit by the court. Anwar denies the claim and has filed a countersuit. Today, before the bench, lawyer Alan Wong, appearing for Anwar, said the appeal against Roz Mawar's decision would be rendered academic and nugatory if the interim stay was disallowed. 'There is no prejudice to the plaintiff if the trial is suspended. He can be compensated in the event that the plaintiff proves his case,' he added. He said the seven-day trial would also disrupt and cause irreversible harm to the prime minister's executive function. 'It is not an ordinary suit but one laced with political motive,' he added. Counsel Rafique Rashid Ali submitted that the appeal on the reference questions was doomed to fail as they were rhetorical and had no basis in Malaysian jurisprudence. He also said the defendant knew the trial dates as they were fixed on June 6 last year. 'Yet he filed the reference application 23 days before the trial was to start through his new solicitors,' Rafique said, adding that his client should have his day in court as the suit was filed in 2021. Lawyers Shahir Tahir, K Rajasegaran, and SM Kavyaasrini also appeared for Anwar while Nurmustanir Nor and Amirul Ar-Rashid Azman acted for Yusoff. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
8 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Apex court sets Nov 6 to hear armed forces retirees' leave to appeal on pension case
PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court has set Nov 6 to hear an application by 50 retired armed forces personnel seeking leave to appeal a Court of Appeal ruling on pension adjustments. Lawyer Mohamed Hanif Khatri Abdulla, representing the retirees, said the date was fixed by Federal Court deputy registrar Husna Dzulkifly during a case management session that began on Aug 4 and concluded today via e-Review. "The hearing will be conducted virtually via Zoom," he said, adding that a final case management is scheduled for Oct 25 to update the court on the status of cause papers and written submissions. On June 4 this year, a three-judge Court of Appeal panel overturned the High Court's ruling that entitled armed forces retirees who left service before Jan 1, 2013, to pension adjustments matching those granted to retirees after that date. The appellate bench had allowed the appeal filed by the respondents, namely, the government, Prime Minister, Senior Defence Minister and Armed Forces Council. The Court of Appeal ruled that the armed forces retirees failed to prove that the respondents had breached the Federal Constitution. Subsequently, the retirees filed an application on July 3 seeking leave to appeal to the Federal Court. In their application, they sought the determination of two questions of law related to the pension adjustment issue. Fifty army personnel of various ranks, including majors, lieutenants, staff sergeants, and privates, filed an originating summons in the High Court on Nov 17, 2022. They sought a declaration that the government violated the Federal Constitution and Section 187 of the Malaysian Armed Forces Act 1972 by failing to implement new pension adjustments for retirees who left service before Jan 1, 2013. The retirees contended that the government's failure created a significant pension gap between those who retired before and after that date. — Bernama
Borneo Post
11 hours ago
- Borneo Post
Sabah's 40% revenue claim: High Court decision Oct 3
Photo for illustration purposes only. – Photo from KOTA KINABALU (Aug 12): A High Court here fixed October 3 to deliver its verdict of a judicial review brought by Sabah Law Society (SLS) to get declaration on 40 percent net revenue grant for Sabah which allegedly had not been reviewed for 48 years since 1974. The decision date was set through virtual hearing via Zoom on Tuesday. On July 7, a full hearing for the substantive judicial review was heard before Justice Datuk Celestina Steul Galid. Three years ago, SLS was granted a leave to commence their judicial review by a High Court here which was on November 11, 2022. The federal government had appealed against the High Court's decision on May 16, 2024 which was dismissed on June 18, 2024, with no order as to costs. SLS had named the government of the federation of Malaysia and the state government of Sabah as the first and second respondents respectively in their judicial review. It sought from court a declaration that the failure of the first respondent to hold the second review in 1974 with the second respondent is a breach and contravention of its constitutional duty stipulated under Article 112D, Clauses (1), (3) and (4) of the Federal Constitution. SLS also sought from court a declaration that 40 percent entitlement remains due and payable by the first respondent to the second respondent for each consecutive financial year for the period from the year 1974 to 2021. Apart from that, SLS further sought from court a declaration that the failure to pay the 40 percent entitlement by the first respondent to the second respondent for each consecutive financial year for the period from 1974 to 2021 is a breach of the fundamental right to property of the second respondent and ultimately of the people of Sabah as enshrined under Article 13 of the Federal Constitution. Further, they sought an order of mandamus directed to the first respondent to hold another review with the second respondent under the provisions of Article 112D of the Federal Constitution to give effect to payment of the 40 percent entitlement under Article 112C read with subsection (1) of Section 2 of Part IV of the Tenth Schedule of the Federal Constitution for each consecutive financial year for the period from 1974 to 2021 within 30 days and to reach a decision within 90 days from the date of this order. Lastly, SLS is also seeking an order that the first respondent pays the entitlement as determined under paragraph 3 (a) above to the second respondent or as constitutional damages for breach of Article 13 of the Federal Constitution or both. For this Zoom hearing, counsel Jeyan Marimuttu represented SLS, Senior Federal Counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly @ Arwi and Sabah State Attorney General Datuk Brenndon Keith Soh acted for the federal and state governments respectively. SLS Immediate Past President Datuk Roger Chin emphasized the historic significance of the case, stating: 'This judicial review addresses Sabah's constitutional rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and the Federal Constitution. It has attracted substantial public interest as it concerns long-standing issues of revenue entitlement and fiscal autonomy for Sabah.' He invited the public, civil society organizations, and media to attend the open-court proceedings, noting they 'reflect the principles of transparency and public accountability.'
The Sun
12 hours ago
- The Sun
Malaysia launches ILMU: First locally built AI language model
KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (pic) today launched Intelek Luhur Malaysia Untukmu (ILMU) — the nation's first 100% locally developed multimodal large language model (LLM) — set for early access on September 16 via ILMUchat. Speaking at the ASEAN AI Malaysia Summit 2025 (AAIMS25), Anwar said the goal is to position Malaysia as an 'AI nation' that uses technology to improve governance, drive innovation and uplift communities. 'This is a generational opportunity. AI can bridge divides, empower small businesses, strengthen public services and expand access to healthcare, education and justice for all,' he said. Developed by YTL AI Labs in collboration with Universiti Malaya, ILMU integrates local languages and culture with world-class performance. Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo called it a 'groundbreaking Malaysian innovation' that safeguards linguistic and cultural identity while delivering global-standard AI capabilities. Fluent in Bahasa Melayu, Malaysian English (Manglish) and dialects such as Kecek Kelate, ILMU is built on YTL AI Cloud for enterprise-grade performance and local data residency. It reportedly matches or outperforms GPT-4o, DeepSeek and Llama 3.1 in key benchmarks, and leads globally in Malay language understanding. The model can process and generate text, voice and images, enabling applications across multiple sectors.
