Lawyer Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin, who is a member of the legal team appearing for the wife of former prime minister Najib Razak, said Zaini was a mere human and not a robot.
“My client’s real concern is that your Lordship will subconsciously be biased against her in the case,” he said in his submission to recuse Zaini.
Zaini is also the trial judge in her ongoing corruption trial linked to the RM1.25 billion Sarawak rural schools’ solar hybrid energy project.
Rosmah wants another judge to hear the money laundering and tax evasion case which has yet to begin.
Firoz said Zaini had accepted the 23 prosecution witnesses in the corruption case as credible when the prosecution was seen as having established a prima facie case against Rosmah in the solar project trial.
“Your Lordship’s mind is already influenced that she is partially guilty when she was asked to enter her defence (in the earlier case),” he added.
Further, he said, Zaini could be biased as he was also hearing two 1MDB-related cases where Najib was standing trial. In addition, the judge had also heard a forfeiture case involving Rosmah’s family, he said.
“The recusal application must be allowed to allay any negative perception about the administration of justice,” he added.
Firoz, who was assisted by Geethan Ram Vincent and Reza Abdul Rahim, said Rosmah was apprehensive Zaini would disbelieve her should he conclude in the corruption trial that she had no credibility.
The present application to recuse Zaini was filed on Jan 11 and Firoz today submitted that it was planked on wider grounds.
Ad-hoc prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram submitted that the recusal application should be dismissed as Zaini had already ruled on Dec 14 that he was capable of hearing the money laundering and tax evasion trial.
“This application is a non-starter and an abuse of the court process,” said Sri Ram, adding that Rosmah should be stopped from bringing the recusal application in installments.
The lawyer and former Federal Court judge said Zaini could not be accused of bias because a judge, unlike jurors, was trained in law to remain impartial.
He said Rosmah failed to meet the test of bias as decided by a Federal Court in 2020 when it allowed the prosecution’s appeal that former minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor must return to the same judge to hear his RM1 million corruption case.
However, last year the prosecution dropped the charge against Adnan.
Sri Ram said Rosmah’s present case was separate and distinct from the corruption trial.
He said the prosecution would call eight witnesses to prove its case and none of them had given evidence in the corruption trial.
Zaini will deliver his ruling on March 21.
Rosmah is facing 12 money laundering charges involving RM7,097,750, and five counts of failure to declare her income to the Inland Revenue Board.
She is accused of committing the offences between Dec 4, 2013 and June 8, 2017.