High Court stays Malaysian Bar’s challenge against Zahid’s DNAA pending apex court appeal

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 — The High Court has granted an interim stay on the Malaysian Bar’s judicial review challenging the Attorney General’s decision to halt corruption proceedings against Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

The decision freezes the challenge until the Federal Court disposes of the government’s appeal.

Justice Azizan Arshad granted the stay order in chambers today following an application by the Attorney General (AG), according to Zahid’s lawyer Guok Ngek Seong, FMT reported.

The freeze halts High Court proceedings after the Federal Court recently granted both the AG and the deputy prime minister leave to challenge an earlier Court of Appeal verdict that had permitted the Malaysian Bar to pursue its judicial review.

“The Federal Court has yet to fix a hearing date for the appeal as the notice of appeal was only filed on Oct 19,” Guok said.

Federal counsel Safiyyah Omar and Imtiyaz Wizni Aufa Othman appeared for the AG, while counsel S Abhilaash represented the Malaysian Bar.

Earlier this month, the apex court ruled that the AG and Zahid satisfied the statutory threshold under Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964, clearing the way for full substantive arguments on whether prosecutorial discretion under Article 145(3) of the Federal Constitution is amenable to judicial review in such circumstances.

That decision paused the momentum generated by the Court of Appeal on May 7, when a three-judge panel unanimously overturned the High Court’s initial refusal to grant leave to the Bar.

The appellate court had reasoned that the Bar’s legal challenge was aimed directly at the “executive root”, namely the AG’s discretionary decision to discontinue the trial, rather than the criminal court’s subsequent judicial order granting Zahid a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA).

Zahid was granted a DNAA by the Kuala Lumpur High Court in September 2023 across all 47 criminal breach of trust, corruption, and money laundering charges involving millions of ringgit from charitable foundation Yayasan Akalbudi, after the prosecution applied to discontinue the case despite having established a prima facie case.