Syed Iskandar Syed Jaafar al-Mahdzar said the magistrates, sessions, and high courts, would have to follow the principle established by the majority.
“Political donation is now legal under Section 165 of the Penal Code but this is gratification under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act,” he told FMT.
The lawyer said future proceedings under the penal code would be difficult to succeed until and unless the Federal Court reverses the ruling in the case of Tengku Adnan, who is better known as Ku Nan.
“It is very sad that Attorney-General (AG) Idrus Harun has declined to proceed with the appeal to the Federal Court. There is no basis to claim that he is under political pressure,” Syed Iskandar added.
He said Idrus, who doubles up as public prosecutor, should not care at all for the views of politicians, similar to the position adopted by Abu Talib Othman when he was the AG from 1980 to 1993.
Syed Iskandar said the public prosecutor is the guardian of public interest and must at all times protect and preserve the sanctity of that office.
The lawyer said this in response to the prosecution’s appeal which has now 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.
On Oct 29, the Court of Appeal’s majority and minority judgments were released on the decision to acquit Ku Nan.
The majority judgment said the RM2 million given to Ku Nan by businessman Chai Kin Kong was proven by the defence to be a political donation for two by-elections.
Judge Ahmad Nasfy Yasin, who spoke for the majority, said the prosecution could not prove that Ku Nan received the money for himself from Chai, who is Aset Kayamas Sdn Bhd director.
However, Abu Bakar Jais said trial judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan last December made a correct finding that the Putrajaya MP pocketed RM2 million as there was no evidence that he or his company had subsequently channelled the money to Umno.