KUALA LUMPUR, July 12 — An application by DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng to transfer his corruption cases from the Sessions to the High Court, and another to postpone the commencement of the trial were both dismissed by High Court Judge Datuk Muhammad Jamil Hussin today.

This means Lim’s trial involving alleged kickbacks amounting to some RM3.3 million will commence tomorrow at the sessions court here, before Judge Azura Alwi.

In delivering his judgment today, Muhammad Jamil disagreed with Lim’s lawyer and fellow party colleague, Gobind Singh, who submitted that the High Court would be a better forum to hear his client’s corruption case with the application of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act.

“I am of the opinion that the Sessions Court judge is sufficiently qualified and possesses the ability to hear the case and to address any questions that might be raised during the trial.

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“The Sessions Court judge possesses the required legal qualifications and is sufficiently experienced to handle the accused’s trial.

“The application by the applicant is therefore dismissed,” said Muhammad Jamil.

Among the arguments raised by Gobind pertaining to the MACC Act was the constitutionality of Section 62 of the Act and how it compels an accused person to submit a defence statement before the commencement of their trial.

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However, Muhammad Jamil again disagreed with the lawyer, citing a Federal Court ruling from 2017 in which the Apex court ruled that Section 62 is indeed constitutional.

“With that, Section 62 of the MACC Act is still in force and the courts must give effect to it.

“Whatever legal questions that might be raised about Section 62 of the MACC Act, in my view, can also be handled and ruled by the Sessions Court judge,” he said.

Another point of contention raised by Gobind today was the credibility of one of the key witnesses, one Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli, who according to the charge sheets, was the person who solicited for kickback.

Gobind argued the defence should be granted access to Zarul’s witness statement prior to him testifying, a submission that Muhammad Jamil again was at odds with, saying any issue about a witness can be addressed when they are called to testify.

Following the judgment, Gobind then implored with the judge for a decision on their appeal to postpone the commencement of the trial, one which Muhammad Jamil again dismissed.

Today’s applications are related to two charges framed against him in August last year, involving one count of soliciting a bribe and one count of abusing his power to obtain gratifications in exchange for awarding projects related to the Penang undersea tunnel project to Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd.

The former Penang chief minister and federal minister of finance is alleged to have solicited a kickback amounting to 10 per cent of the profits raked by Consortium Zenith, an amount later amended within the charges to read as a RM3.3 million as inducement from the company’s director to help them secure the RM6.3 billion project.

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