KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak has again failed in his bid to recuse Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram from leading the prosecution team in his 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) criminal case.
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High Court judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan today dismissed the former prime minister’s application to remove Sri Ram from the 1MDB audit report tampering trial.
In his decision, Zaini said the applicant (Najib) had among others relied on the communications that took place between former Attorney-General (AG) Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali and the former Federal Court judge as proof of the latter’s biasness.
This apprehension, he said, has no basis and is misplaced.
“Sri Ram, like any other person, is entitled to have his personal opinion. It remains just that.
“It would have been a different consideration if he had demonstrated his biasness when carrying out his duty as a senior public prosecutor,” he said.
Pertinently, the judge said, the fact that the applicant had not made any complaints over Sri Ram’s conduct in trials involving the Pekan MP lends credence to the respondent’s (prosecution) contention that Sri Ram had been above board in his conduct as a senior public prosecutor.
The allegation that Sri Ram was involved in the investigations into the 1MDB case against the applicant, the judge said, was unmeritorious, as there is no cogent evidence to support the allegation and that it remains purely hypothetical.
The judge also said that the matter has been deliberated and decided on and it should remain and not be regurgitated again.
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“It is ultimately the court’s bounty duty to ensure that a trial is conducted fairly in the interests of justice. The court will ultimately come to the aid of any party that was treated unfairly, if it ever comes to that.
“The applicant’s application is therefore dismissed,” the judge ruled.
Najib was represented by counsel Nur Syahirah Hanapiah, while deputy public prosecutor, Ahmad Akram Gharib, appeared for the prosecution.
This is the third attempt by Najib to recuse Sri Ram from leading the prosecution team in his cases after two failed bids.
On June 12, last year, Najib filed an application to recuse Sri Ram, supported by two affidavits, one filed by Najib and the other by Apandi.
Najib, 68, and former 1MDB chief executive officer Arul Kanda Kandasamy, 44, are on trial over 1MDB audit tampering charges.
The former prime minister is charged with using his position to order amendments to the 1MDB final audit report before it was presented to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to avoid any action being taken against him; while Arul Kanda is charged with abetting Najib in making the amendments to the report to protect Najib from being subjected to action.
The trial resumes on Feb 22.- The Star