Zaini said the wife of former prime minister Najib Razak had last year made an unsuccessful attempt to disqualify him in the solar energy corruption trial.

He said the doctrine of res judicata applies in this second application.

“I am of the opinion that she must be stopped from litigating the matter again.

“Public interest demands that there must be a finality to litigation and parties should not be allowed to canvas the same issue over and over again,” he said.

Zaini said Rosmah’s concern is that he is currently presiding in the corruption trial and he would be unduly influenced and would not be able to carry out his judicial function without bias and impartiality.

The judge said Rosmah’s second application is based considerably on the same grounds as the first application.

However, in the second application, she also included the 1MDB forfeiture case (where she is a party) and Najib’s 1MDB audit trial.

In essence, Zaini said the second application was the same as the first and Rosmah had only added colour (to the second application).

“I must add that I was bemused when she included the two cases,” he added.

Zaini said in the forfeiture case, he had dismissed the prosecution’s case to seize the property while the 1MDB audit case did not concern her.

Rosmah’s lawyer Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin had submitted that his client had no confidence that Zaini would remain consciously independent as the judge was a “mere human and not a robot”.

Ad hoc prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram had submitted that Rosmah’s application was an abuse of the court process.

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 (LHDN).

She is accused of committing the offences between Dec 4, 2013 and June 8, 2017.

Zaini has allowed Rosmah’s application for a stay on proceedings pending an appeal to the Court of Appeal.

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