Bar president AG Kalidas said the appeal should go ahead, considering that the Court of Appeal’s decision on July 16 was not unanimous.

The AG is the principal legal adviser to the government and is also the public prosecutor.

“It is our view that the reasons behind withdrawing an appeal in such a high-profile case must be revealed to demonstrate accountability to the rakyat,” Kalidas said in a statement.

Kalidas said the position of the attorney-general’s chambers as a bastion of justice and a guardian of public interest must be fiercely guarded.

“The Malaysian Bar therefore emphasises the need for the AG to give a detailed explanation behind the withdrawal of the appeal.”

FMT reported yesterday that the prosecution’s appeal may have lapsed as the petition of appeal was not filed on time.

Court rules state that the petition must be filed in the Federal Court within 10 days of receiving the appeal records which, among others, consist of grounds of judgment and notes of proceedings.

FMT is still awaiting a response from Idrus.

A case management was held before a Federal Court registrar last week but it is unclear what transpired.

On Oct 29, the Court of Appeal’s majority and minority judgments were released on the decision to acquit Tengku Adnan, better known as Ku Nan.

The majority judgment said the RM2 million given to Ku Nan by a businessman was proven by the defence to be a political donation for two by-elections.

Ahmad Nasfy Yasin, who spoke for the majority, said the prosecution could not prove that Ku Nan received the money for himself from Aset Kayamas Sdn Bhd director Chai Kin Kong.

However, Abu Bakar Jais said trial judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan last December made a correct finding that the former federal territories minister pocketed RM2 million as there is no evidence that he or his company had subsequently channelled the money received from Chai as political donation to Umno.