Lawyers for the former prime minister’s wife are now mulling asking for a retrial, Bernama reported.
Rosmah’s lawyers had been seeking to view the appointment letter but had been denied by the High Court. She had then taken the matter to the Court of Appeal.
At the appeal hearing, Justice Suraya Othman, who led the three-member bench, asked DPP Ahmad Akram Gharib whether there was a letter of appointment for Sri Ram, to which he said yes.
After perusing the letter of appointment, Suraya said that from the court’s observation, the document did not satisfy two of the three requirements that Rosmah’s lawyers requested for.
She said the appointment letter was not dated on or before Nov 15, 2018, the day when Rosmah was charged in court and was not signed by the then AG Tommy Thomas.
Instead, she said the letter was dated July 8 last year – 19 months after she was charged – and was signed by the current AG Idrus Harun.
Rosmah’s defence team, which was led by lawyer Jagjit Singh, earlier sought the court to see when the appointment letter was dated, and who signed it and whether the letter contained particulars pertaining to the charge against Rosmah.
Outside the court later, Jagjit told reporters that when Rosmah was charged, there was no such letter of appointment for Sri Ram to act as senior DPP.
He said the conduct of Sri Ram throughout the case of the prosecution, in his view, was a nullity because he was never appointed.
“Now the issue for us is whether to apply for a retrial,” the national news agency quoted him as saying.
Earlier in the day, Akram conceded for Rosmah’s appeal to be allowed and also for the prosecution to give the appointment letter dated July 8, 2020, to the defence. However, certain portions irrelevant to Rosmah’s case will be omitted, he said.
Following the sudden turn of events, Rosmah’s appeal to get Sri Ram’s appointment letter as senior DPP in her trial over a RM1.25 billion solar hybrid project for 369 rural schools in Sarawak was allowed.
Suraya acceded to Akram’s request to give the copy of the document to the defence by Monday. The other judges on the bench were Justices Abu Bakar Jais and Ghazali Cha.
Rosmah had brought the matter up for appeal to the Court of Appeal after the High Court dismissed her application to get Sri Ram’s appointment letter on Aug 19, last year.
Rosmah, 69, the wife of former prime minister Najib Razak, is facing one count of soliciting RM187.5 million and two counts of receiving RM6.5 million in bribes from Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd’s managing director, Saidi Abang Samsudin in connection with the solar energy project.
The bribes were allegedly received through her former assistant Rizal Mansor as a reward for helping Jepak Holdings secure the Hybrid Photovoltaic Solar System integrated project as well as the maintenance and operation of diesel gen-sets for 369 Sarawak rural schools worth RM1.25 billion through direct negotiation from the education ministry.
The offences were allegedly committed at Lygon Cafe, Sunway Putra Mall, Jalan Putra here; Rosmah’s residence at Jalan Langgak Duta, Taman Duta and at Seri Perdana, Persiaran Seri Perdana, Precinct 10, Putrajaya between January 2016 and September 2017.