PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal today (CoA) dismissed Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor’s appeal to recuse then High Court judge Datuk Mohamed Zaini Mazlan who presided over her corruption trial involving the RM1.25 billion solar hybrid project in Sarawak.
A three-judge panel led by Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim unanimously rejected her application to remove Zaini, now a Court of Appeal judge, ruling it had no merit.
The 74-year-old, in her application had also called for her case to be retried or decided by another High Court judge, after claiming that there was an allegedly leaked draft judgment of her case, which was believed to be prepared by another party for Zaini to deliver his decision on Sept 1,2022.
Zaidi, who sat alongside judges Datuk Azman Abdullah and Datuk Noorin Badaruddin, said Rosmah failed to show the real danger of bias on Zaini as the trial judge.
“It is said there are two grounds of judgment. First is said to be a 71-page ground of judgment prepared by a third party, and also one prepared by the trial judge. We had the opportunity to read it, which was 116 pages.
“After reviewing both documents, it is clear in our minds, there is indeed a stark contrast in the two documents.
“This shows what was said by the trial judge that he had prepared his own judgment without using the judgment of the third party is consistent.
“On that basis, we find that the prosecution at the High Court level, as the respondent, successfully showed there is no real danger of bias on the trial judge’s part at the time,” he said.
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