KUALA LUMPUR: The Court of Appeal has set March 4 next year to hear Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s appeal seeking to refer eight legal questions -arising from a suit filed by his former research officer Muhammed Yusoff Rawther – to the Federal Court.
Yusoff’s lawyer, Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali, said in a statement that case management for the appeal has been fixed for Feb 19.
“The respondent (Yusoff) has just instructed us to write to the President of the Court of Appeal to request an earlier hearing date, given that this case constitutes a matter of public interest litigation.
“On behalf of the respondent, this appeal ought to be disposed of early since Appendix 145 in the High Court only involves legal issues and the records of appeal have already been duly filed,” he said.
On July 21, Anwar was granted a stay of proceedings in the civil sexual assault suit filed against him in 2021 by Yusoff.
Anwar‘s application for the stay came after Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Roz Mawar Rozain rejected his bid to refer eight constitutional questions to the Federal Court on a prime minister’s immunity from civil suits.
In her decision, Roz Mawar ruled that Anwar’s application was speculative and did not meet the requirements under Section 84 of the Courts of Judicature Act.
Anwar had sought the Federal Court to rule whether Articles 5, 8, 39, 40 and 43 of the Federal Constitution grant him qualified immunity from Yusoff’s suit.
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