UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and the Attorney General have obtained leave to appeal to the Federal Court against a Court of Appeal decision allowing the Malaysian Bar to challenge the “No Further Action” decision involving the Yayasan Akalbudi corruption case.
In civil cases, parties seeking to appeal to the Federal Court must first obtain leave before the appeal can proceed.
A three-member Federal Court panel, led by Chief Judge of Malaya Datuk Seri Hashim Hamzah and comprising Datuk Nordin Hassan and Datuk Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali, unanimously allowed the application during proceedings today.
“We are of the view that this case raises various constitutional issues, some of which are important and require clarification and final determination by this court,” the judge said when delivering the panel’s unanimous decision.
The panel also found that the applicants had met the threshold required under Sections 96A and 96B of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 to obtain leave to appeal.
On May 7, the Court of Appeal allowed the Malaysian Bar’s application to challenge the Attorney General’s decision on September 4, 2023 to discontinue proceedings against Ahmad Zahid.
The appellate court ruled that the Malaysian Bar’s application was not frivolous and raised arguable legal issues that warranted a full hearing.
The Court of Appeal also granted the Malaysian Bar permission to initiate judicial review proceedings against the Attorney General’s disputed decision, overturning an earlier decision by the Kuala Lumpur High Court dated June 27, 2024.
