Appeals court defers decision in Tommy Thomas' appeal to recuse judge
PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has deferred the decision in an appeal filed by former attorney general Tan Sri Tommy Thomas ( pic ) who is seeking to recuse a High Court judge from hearing a RM30mil lawsuit filed against him by Tan Sri Shahrir Samad.
A three-judge panel chaired by Justice Supang Lian made the deferment after hearing submissions from parties in an online proceedings here on Thursday (June 5).
Other judges on the bench were Justices Faizah Jamaludin and Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin.
Earlier, the appellate court heard from Thomas's lawyer Alan Gomez that the application for a judge to recuse oneself was not personal in nature but it was intended to ensure a fair trial.
Gomez said there was a probability that the judge (Justice Roz Mawar Rozain) who had dismissed Thomas's application to strike out Shahrir's lawsuit could have had her opinion and perception before the actual trial began.
He said Justice Roz Mawar should recuse herself as she had made findings that were unsupported by evidence in the pre-trial application.
Meanwhile, Datuk Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin, who represented Shahrir, said that the High Court's finding was an inference and not a factual finding that touched on the merit of the lawsuit.
The panel then fixed June 12 for case management to set a date for decision.
On Jan 14, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed Thomas's application to recuse Justice Roz Mawar from hearing Shahrir's defamation suit against Thomas and three others over alleged malicious prosecution.
In making the decision, Justice Roz Mawar said an unhealthy trend had emerged of litigants seeking to recuse judges from hearing their cases which is capable of eroding public confidence in the judicial arm of the state.
She also awarded costs of RM20,000 to Shahrir.
Thomas filed the recusal application on Aug 26, last year claiming that Justice Roz Mawar had made numerous baseless findings and contradictory statements to the claims in the lawsuit and the evidence presented in court.
However, Shahrir objected to the application, arguing that the judge should not recuse herself simply because Thomas was dissatisfied with her reasoning.
On July 3, last year, Justice Roz Mawar dismissed Thomas' application to strike out the lawsuit. She fixed March 9 to 12 and April 27 to 29, 2026 for a full hearing on the merits of the case.
Shahrir, who is a former Johor Bahru MP, filed the lawsuit in December, 2023, naming Thomas, former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Latheefa Koya, the MACC, and the government as defendants.
Shahrir's lawsuit concerns an RM1mil cheque he received from former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for restoration work on the Puri Langkasuka housing project in Larkin, Johor.
Thomas, who served as AG from June 4, 2018, to Feb 28, 2020, refuted Shahrir's allegations of abuse of power, describing them as "unsustainable".
He stated that the discretion to charge could only be exercised after the AG receives the investigation papers from agencies like the MACC.
Thomas said he resigned on Feb 28, 2020, and that Shahrir's criminal trial for the charges began on July 26, 2022.
On Jan 5, 2023, High Court Justice Muhammad Jamil Hussin acquitted Shahrir on the charge of failing to declare the RM1mil income received from Najib to the Inland Revenue Board.
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