A three-judge panel led by Chief Judge of Malaya Hashim Hamzah, sitting with Justices Collin Lawrence Sequerah and Nazlan Ghazali, ruled that Yong had failed to meet the stringent threshold under Rule 137 of the Rules of the Federal Court 1995.

Rule 137 concerns the Federal Court’s inherent power to review its own decisions to prevent injustice or abuse of process.

Delivering the ruling, Hashim said Yong had relied on an alleged breach of natural justice, arguing that he was not given the opportunity to make submissions on the court’s intention to depart from established authorities.

“However, we are of the view that the parties were given full opportunity to ventilate the same issues, which were examined, and that ultimately, there was no breach of natural justice,” he said.

Yong is serving an eight-year jail term and facing two strokes of the cane after the Federal Court in October last year dismissed his final appeal against his conviction.

The apex court bench, led by Chief Justice Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, held that Yong’s conviction was sound and ordered him to begin serving his sentence immediately.

Wan Farid had said the lower courts were correct in considering the victim as a credible witness.

In the same month (October 2025), Yong filed an application to have his appeal re-heard before a different apex court panel.

Yong was convicted by the High Court on July 22, 2022, of raping the 23-year-old woman at his home in Ipoh, between 8.15pm and 9.15pm on July 7, 2019.

The Court of Appeal later upheld the conviction, with Justices Hadhariah Syed Ismail and Azman Abdullah forming the majority, while Justice S Komathy dissented.