Azizah, in a brief written judgment, said there was no danger of bias if she continued to hear the case.
“The subject matter of the current case is different from the previous RCI case,” she said, referring to another RCI forex case she had heard where Mahathir wanted to remove Sidek Hassan and Saw Choo Boon as RCI panel members.
Last year, Azizah dismissed Mahathir’s application for leave to commence a judicial review to discharge Sidek and Saw before the RCI hearing began.
Mahathir filed another application in December to quash the RCI’s findings, claiming the decision by the panel was null and void as it excluded the legal documents of witnesses and notes of proceedings.
He said the RCI report had also failed to include written submissions and legal authorities submitted by lawyers after the hearing, and that the RCI was formed with an ulterior motive as he was heading the then-opposition coalition, Pakatan Harapan (PH).
In the RCI’s findings, tendered to Parliament last year, the panel concluded there were elements of hidden facts and information relating to forex losses suffered by Bank Negara, and that misleading statements had been given to the Cabinet, Parliament and the public.
The report also said Bank Negara suffered a total loss of RM31.5 billion between 1992 and 1994.
The RCI panel proposed that the police open investigations into possible criminal breach of trust or cheating allegedly committed by various parties, including Mahathir and his former deputy, Anwar Ibrahim.
Mahathir has since been appointed prime minister, following a shock win by PH in the May 9 general election.
Mahathir wants to recuse judge in suit to nullify forex RCI findings