Deputy public prosecutor Ashrof Adrin Kamarul said the hearing would go ahead on March 15-16, as scheduled in late January.

“The court conveyed the dismissal of the application (to vacate the hearing) via email this morning,” he told the media in a text message.

Last week, Najib’s lawyers wrote to the court registry to adjourn the hearing on grounds that they were still seeking all notes of evidence and documents related to the SRC trial at the High Court.

They also wanted more time to prepare written submissions for the additional evidence appeal.

On Dec 7, Judge Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil, who led a three-member bench, dismissed Najib’s application to include fresh evidence in his appeal, saying he did not meet the strict elements required under the law.

The next day, the same bench upheld the conviction and 12-year jail term and RM210 million fine on Najib for abuse of power, money laundering and misappropriating RM42 million in SRC funds.

Karim said trial judge Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, who is now a Court of Appeal judge, did not misdirect himself for appellate intervention.