KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 — The ex-wife of Sarawak tycoon Datuk Seri Mahmud Abu Bekir Abdul Taib lost her bid to cite him for contempt after Kuala Lumpur Shariah Appeals Court ruled she had no cause to pursue case that was already academic in nature.

In their unanimous verdict, a three-judge panel who presided over Shahnaz Abdul Majid’s case today ruled that a decision was handed down by another Shariah Appeals Court in 2013, Shahnaz had lost all right to pursue the matter anew.

“By throwing out the (contempt) application before, it had also thrown out the merit rights of the appellant,” lead judge Datuk Mahammad Ibrahim said in reading the judgement.

“The court has not jurisdiction to hear a case that’s already been heard and decided and is academic,” he added.

Other judges in the panel are Datuk Muhammad Asri Abdullah and Datuk Yusof Musa.

In 2011, Shahnaz secured an asset discovery order against Bekir, the son of Sarawak Governor Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud, as part of her claim for RM400 million in matrimonial assets and, in 2012, was granted leave to cite him for contempt following his failure to comply.

In 2013, the Shariah High Court judge Datuk Mohamad Abdullah set aside the application to cite Bekir for contempt and ruled that the failure of the applicant to explicitly mention the section under which they applied for leave for contempt, is what led the court to dismiss the application.

He had also expressed his satisfaction over Mahmud’s explanation as to not adhering to the order.

Shahnaz then appealed the decision.

Outside the court after today’s ruling, Mahmud’s lawyer Datuk Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar expressed his happiness and called the decision a “Ramadan gift” to his client.

In addition to her claim for RM400 million in assets, Shahnaz is also seeking an additional RM121 million for the maintenance for their son, Raden Murya Abdul Taib Mahmud.

Her almost half a billion ringgit claim also includes a RM100 million for “mutaah” or conciliatory gift.

Shahnaz and Mahmud married on January 9, 1992, when they were both aged 28, and they have a 20-year-old son named Raden Murya.

Mahmud filed for divorce almost two decades later on May 11, 2011.