Kuala lumpur: The Federal Court has adjourned Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor's final appeal to recuse Judge Datuk Mohamed Zaini Mazlan, who convicted her in the RM1.25 billion Sarawak solar hybrid project corruption case, to March 3 after she sustained a fall.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the three-member panel, led by Justice Datuk Nordin Hassan with Justices Datuk Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali and Datuk Azimah Omar, granted the adjournment after Rosmah's counsel, Datuk Jagjit Singh, informed the court that his client was on medical leave from Feb 24 to 28. Jagjit reported that Rosmah had injured her hand and knees while trying to prevent a complete fall at home.
When asked by Justice Azimah whether Rosmah had been admitted to the hospital following the incident, Jagjit explained that she had been advised to go but opted not to. Justice Azimah commented that if Rosmah was unable to attend court, she should be in the hospital instead of at home.
Deputy public prosecutor Mangaiarkarasi Krishnan stated that the prosecution did not object to the adjournment, leaving the decision to the court's discretion. Meanwhile, Jagjit also sought the recusal of Justices Nordin and Che Mohd Ruzima, citing their previous involvement in other cases concerning Rosmah.
Justice Nordin questioned the validity of the recusal request, asking if Rosmah felt uncomfortable due to his presence and whether there was a real danger of bias. He advised Jagjit to counsel his client accordingly. Ultimately, Justice Nordin dismissed Rosmah's application to recuse himself and Justice Che Mohd Ruzima, noting that there was no real danger of bias.
Rosmah, the wife of former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, is appealing the Court of Appeal's decision that upheld the High Court's refusal to recuse Judge Mohamed Zaini. She had filed the recusal application just before the scheduled delivery of Judge Zaini's decision on Sept 1, 2022, alleging that a draft judgment had been leaked by a third party.
On the same day, Rosmah was convicted of corruption related to the RM1.25 billion solar hybrid project for 369 rural schools in Sarawak. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined RM970 million, with an additional 30-year prison term if the fine is not paid. The High Court later granted her a stay of execution for both the jail term and fine pending her appeal.
Rosmah is facing one charge of soliciting RM187.5 million and two charges of receiving bribes totaling RM6.5 million from Saidi Abang Samsudin, the former managing director of Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd.