Judge Akhtar Tahir said Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin, treasurer Salleh Bajuri and secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin, in their defence, have denied that they appointed Haniff as legal adviser to the party.
“As there is no written appointment, as admitted by the plaintiff (Haniff) himself, the only way to prove it is by the testimonies of Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Mukhriz (Mahathir),” Akhtar said in his judgment released yesterday.
However, he said, these two individuals had not filed any affidavits to support Haniff’s contention.
“The only way to prove the appointment is for the plaintiff to call these two persons as witnesses in a trial,” he said, referring to the former chairman (Mahathir) and deputy president (Mukhriz) of Bersatu.
Akhtar added that the defendants had a credible defence that needed to be determined after a trial and cannot be determined by way of a summary judgment.
Akhtar, who delivered an oral ruling last May, fixed trial from March 18 to 24, 2024.
Haniff has filed an appeal in the Court of Appeal.
Haniff, in his statement of claim, said the invoice for payment was issued to Muhyiddin, Hamzah and Salleh last year.
He said the suit was filed only after they failed to respond to a reminder to pay up.
He added that the money was for legal services rendered before Bersatu was formed up to the point it pulled out of Pakatan Harapan (PH) in early 2020, before the setting up of Perikatan Nasional (PN).
According to Haniff, before the 14th general election (GE14) in May 2018, he represented the party in a kleptocracy, corruption and abuse of power suit against then prime minister Najib Razak and his administration.
The statement said Haniff’s services came to an end on Feb 24, 2020 following the “Sheraton Move”, which led to the collapse of the PH government.
In their defence, Bersatu and the office-bearers said they wanted the lawyer’s suit to be dismissed as there was no agreement between them.
They said all services rendered by Haniff to Mahathir were made on a voluntary basis and without expectation of payment.
They also contended that the sum claimed was also grossly excessive and unlawful.
Mahathir, Mukhriz and three MPs were sacked from Bersatu for their refusal to support the PN-led government led by Muhyiddin.