Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail had two previous attempts to dismiss the suit by lawyer Rosli Dahlan and former cop Datuk Ramli Yusuf dIsmissed by the High Court and Court of Appeal, respectively. – The Malaysian Insider pic, June 25, 2015.
Court documents sighted by The Malaysian Insider revealed that the 10 defendants want the apex court to stay High Court judge Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera's order that the case goes to trial soon.
Gani and the other defendants had also filed a leave application at the Federal Court to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal on April 1, which had upheld Vazeer Alam's ruling.
Gani and the other defendants had also filed a leave application at the Federal Court to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal on April 1, which had upheld Vazeer Alam's ruling.
A five-man Federal Court bench is scheduled to hear the stay and leave applications today.
Lawyer Rosli Dahlan and former commercial crime investigation director Datuk Ramli Yusuf are objecting to the applications as there were no special circumstances to stay Vazeer Alam's instruction.
Rosli and Ramli are also contending that it has been 18 months since the A-G's defence was supposed to have been filed and this latest move is just a delay tactic to frustrate their claim.
Rosli said he would have expected Gani and the rest to file their defence after both the High Court and Court of Appeal dismissed their move to strike out the suits.
"The defendants had filed numerous applications to stall the suits from being disposed of expeditiously," he told The Malaysian Insider.
Rosli said he would have expected Gani and the rest to file their defence after both the High Court and Court of Appeal dismissed their move to strike out the suits.
"The defendants had filed numerous applications to stall the suits from being disposed of expeditiously," he told The Malaysian Insider.
On May 28, Vazeer Alam ordered Gani and the other defendants to file their defence within 30 days so that trial could proceed.
Rosli and Ramli filed suits in November 2013 against Gani and the rest for, among other things, alleged malicious prosecution over corruption charges.
The courts have cleared them of the charges.
In a landmark ruling in April last year, Vazeer Alam dismissed the application to strike out Rosli and Ramli's suit, saying the matter must go to trial.
Vazeer Alam had remarked that the A-G, who holds public office, cannot escape suits when they involve allegations of abuse of power.
"I am afraid that the notion of absolute immunity for a public servant, even when mala fide or abuse of power in the exercise of their prosecutorial power is alleged, is anathema to modern day notions of accountability,” Vazeer Alam said.
Vazeer Alam in his ruling had also said he agreed that deliberate abuse of power by those holding public office was misfeasance.
"Such a torturous act can arise when an officer actuated by malice, for example, by personal spite or a desire to injure for improper reasons, abuses his power.
"This is in keeping with developments in modern jurisprudence that absolute immunity for public servants has no place in a progressive democratic society," he added.
Both Rosli and Ramli are now claiming damages to the tune of about RM176 million.
Ramli, in his RM128.5 million suit, had also named former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan and 10 others for wrongfully bringing two charges against him.
Rosli, in his suit, is claiming more than RM47 million for conspiring to arrest and charge him in court over an alleged failure to declare his assets.
Rosli named Gani, Musa and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief commissioner Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed in their personal capacities.
The lawyer alleged that Gani had a role in the malicious prosecution.
On April 1, a three-member Court of Appeal bench, chaired by Datuk Abdul Hamid Sultan, also dismissed the defendants' appeal to strike out the suit.
The defendants then filed a leave application in the Federal Court on April 28 to appeal against the Court of Appeal ruling.
The defendants then filed a leave application in the Federal Court on April 28 to appeal against the Court of Appeal ruling.
Subsequently the defendants also filed an application to stay the High Court order which directed them (on May 28) to file their defence.
This case is also connected with the on-going trial before High Court judge Su Geok Yim where Rosli has filed a conspiracy and defamation suit against MACC and 12 others officials.
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