KUALA LUMPUR – The high court here today dismissed Muda’s application to refer constitutional issues related to the investigation into judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali to the Federal Court.
Judge Datuk Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid dismissed it after finding that there was no merit for Muda to refer the constitutional issues to the Apex Court.
The judge said the proposed questions have become academic since the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) view has been superseded by the Federal Court’s decision in former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s SRC International Sdn Bhd case.
“Therefore, this court opines that the proposed questions should not be entertained by this court nor referred to the Federal Court under Section 84 of Act 91 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964,” he said.
According to judge Kamal, the power to interpret constitutional provisions is not exclusively within the Federal Court’s ambit.
“Under the constitutional scheme, the Federal Court is generally a court of last resort for all constitutional questions. Therefore, this court finds that the applicant’s application has no merit in law and is hereby dismissed,” he added.
The court fixed February 6 for case management.
On April 25, last year, Muda applied to refer constitutional issues to determine whether MACC has the authority to investigate a serving superior court judge for breaching the Judges’ Code of Ethics 2009 and presiding over a case despite a conflict of interest.
Muda, as the plaintiff, filed the originating summons on April 12 last year, seeking a declaration that the MACC has no authority or jurisdiction to investigate a finding or view that serving judges of the high court, Court of Appeal and Federal Court have breached the Judges’ Code of Ethics 2009 and were in conflict of interest in presiding over a particular court case.
Muda is also seeking a declaration that the MACC’s finding or view that justice Mohd Nazlan had been in breach of the Code of Ethics or had a conflict of interest in presiding over SRC International Sdn Bhd cases, is unlawful and unconstitutional. – January 17, 2024