Lead counsel Hisyam Teh Poh Teik told the court the defence filed the application last night.
He said a copy of the application has been served on the prosecution.
Ad hoc prosecutor V Sithambaram confirmed that they have been served an unsealed copy.
Hisyam urged the court to dispose of Najib’s bid to recuse Tengku Maimun before the defence proceeds to argue their case.
Tengku Maimun then asked what would happen to the main appeal. “We are here not to waste time,” she said.
In response, Hisyam said it is best to deal with the recusal bid before the defence proceeds with the appeal proper.
Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, who is a member of the panel, interjected and suggested that Hisyam respond to the prosecution’s argument on points of laws about how courts can decide a case if lawyers do not file anything before the court.
After Hisyam responded to the prosecution’s point on law, Tengku Maimun said the court would stand down, and instructed the court’s registrar to fetch the documents on Najib’s recusal bid.
The other apex court judges sitting on the panel are Nallini Pathmanathan, Mary Lim and Zabidin Diah.
Najib is appealing against his conviction on all seven charges brought against him for abuse of power, misappropriation and money laundering involving RM42 million of funds belonging to SRC International.
He was sentenced to 12 years’ jail and a RM210 million fine two years ago.
‘Why CJ should not hear SRC International appeal’
Najib cited a Facebook post by Tengku Maimun’s husband, Zamani Ibrahim, on May 11, 2018 as the reason for his bid to recuse the chief justice.
“I verily believe that these developments are highly disturbing in light of the fact that Zamani clearly has negative sentiments towards my leadership of this country while I was the prime minister and had concluded I had siphoned sovereign government funds into my personal accounts,” he said.
“Being the husband of the chairperson that is adjudicating my appeal it is likely that he would have influenced the thinking of the chairperson as to my alleged culpability.”
In the post, Zamani, a lawyer, spoke about the fall of the Barisan Nasional government on May 9, 2018.
He said he was “happy because Najib had been dethroned”, but added that he was also saddened that his “good friend”, Umno vice-president Khaled Nordin, lost both his Pasir Gudang parliamentary seat and Permas state seat.
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