Court reserves judgment in Tommy Thomas's appeal to recuse judge

Free Malaysia Today

2 days ago

Former attorney-general Tommy Thomas's lawyer argued that High Court judge Roz Mawar Rozain was biased and had shown prejudgment when she dismissed his client's application to strike out the suit.
PUTRAJAYA : The Court of Appeal has reserved judgment in former attorney-general Tommy Thomas's appeal to disqualify a High Court judge from hearing a malicious prosecution lawsuit filed by former minister Shahrir Samad.
The three-member bench, led by Justice Supang Lian and comprising Justices Faizah Jamaludin and Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin, said it would consider both written and oral submissions. A case management has been scheduled for June 12 to fix a date for the decision.
Thomas's lawyer Alan Adrian Gomez argued that High Court judge Roz Mawar Rozain was biased and had shown prejudgment when she dismissed his client's application to strike out the suit.
He claimed the judge relied on Thomas's memoir, My Story: Justice in the Wilderness, to suggest that Thomas had pressured the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to investigate Shahrir.
'Thomas will not be accorded a fair trial as there is a breach of natural justice,' he added.
'Thomas only asked MACC investigators to complete the probe expeditiously,' Gomez said, adding that while Thomas approved Shahrir's prosecution, it was his successor, Idrus Harun, who decided to proceed with the trial.
Gomez also took issue with the judge's remark in her judgment that Thomas, before becoming attorney-general in June 2018, had helped topple the Barisan Nasional government.
'BN was voted out in the 14th general election,' he said.
In response, Shahrir's lawyer Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin argued that the recusal bid was baseless and made only after the strike-out application failed.
He said a judge cannot be disqualified simply for making adverse rulings and noted that judges routinely dismiss strike-out applications but still go on to hear the full case if the plaintiff had an arguable case.
He said the judge, in this case, wanted the trial to proceed as there was a prima facie case for malicious prosecution.
'The trial should proceed so that the truth can be tested through cross-examination,' Firoz said.
He also highlighted that an MACC officer testified in Shahrir's money laundering trial that the investigation was incomplete when charges were filed.
On Jan 5, 2023, High Court judge Jamil Hussin acquitted Shahrir of failing to declare RM1 million received from former prime minister Najib Razak to the tax authorities after the prosecution decided not to continue the case.
Thomas filed the recusal application on Aug 26, 2023, alleging that Roz Mawar made baseless findings inconsistent with the lawsuit and evidence.
Shahrir opposed the application, arguing that dissatisfaction with a ruling was not grounds for recusal.
On July 3 last year, the judge dismissed Thomas's attempt to strike out the lawsuit.
Shahrir, a former Johor Bahru MP, filed the suit in December 2022, naming Thomas, former MACC chief Latheefa Koya, MACC and the government as defendants.
The suit centres on a RM1 million cheque from Najib, said to be intended for housing project restoration in Larkin, Johor.
Thomas, who was attorney-general from June 2018 to February 2020, denies any abuse of power and says prosecution decisions were made only after reviewing investigation papers from relevant agencies.
He resigned in February 2020, while Shahrir's trial began in July 2022.