Photos by Shahrill Basri/The Edge

PUTRAJAYA (Sept 11): Former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will continue to stand trial for four abuse of power charges related to the Jana Wibawa programme at the Sessions Court.

A five-member bench led by Datuk Azizah Nawawi on Wednesday dismissed the Perikatan Nasional chairman’s application, ruling that the previous bench had the jurisdiction to hear the prosecution’s appeal against the High Court’s decision to strike out the charges.

“The review [by Muhyiddin] is dismissed,” Azizah, who read the unanimous decision, said at the Court of Appeal.

The other judges on the bench were Datuk Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali, Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim, Datuk Azman Abdullah, and Datuk Azhahari Kamal Ramli.

In maintaining the decision of the three-member appellate bench that reinstated the abuse of power charges, Azizah noted that Muhyiddin sought to quash the four charges without a full trial, which was beyond the Sessions Court’s jurisdiction, resulting in him filing the application at the High Court.

When the High Court judge invoked inherent jurisdiction to strike out the criminal charges and acquit Muhyiddin, the judge was exercising revisionary powers by reviewing the legality of the charges, Azizah flagged.

The High Court can only review and set aside charges, dismiss proceedings, and acquit Muhyiddin through the inherent jurisdiction.

However, the charges against Muhyiddin were pending trial in the Sessions Court, making Muhyiddin’s motion to dismiss the charges led the High Court to review the charges still under the Sessions Court's jurisdiction, she said.

Azizah said the defence's argument that the High Court was acting on its inherent jurisdiction and not its revisionary jurisdiction would lead to an absurdity.

“If Muhyiddin is correct that there can be no appeal against the decision of the High Court judge in dismissing the charges and acquitting him, it would simply mean that the High Court has an unlimited jurisdiction to quash a criminal charge and acquit an accused person without trial. Further, it would lead to an absurd situation where the prosecution is left without any remedy as the propriety and correctness of the said High Court judge’s decision can never be challenged,” she said.

The bench also disagreed with the defence that Paragraph 50 (1) (b) of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 could be read in isolation.

Azizah stressed that all the relevant provisions on revisionary powers of the High Court judge must be read together as a whole and construed harmoniously with one another to avoid ambiguity or absurdity in the application of law.

She ruled that Paragraph 50(1) (b) must be reconcilled with the other provisions in the Act, in particular the revisionary powers of the High Court conferred by Sections 31 and Subsection 35(1) as well as Section 323 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

When read harmoniously, Azizah said the jurisdiction to hear appeals from the High Court in the exercise of its revisionary jurisdiction in criminal matters extends beyond the Sessions Court, but includes any matters where the High Court applies its revisionary jurisdiction.

“Consequently, the bench found that the earlier panel had the requisite jurisdiction to hear and adjudicate the prosecution’s appeal,” Azizah said, in dismissing Muhyiddin’s review.

The charges faced by Muhyiddin

Muhyiddin, as the then prime minister and president of Bersatu, was charged with using his position to obtain RM232.5 million in bribes from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd and Mamfor Sdn Bhd, and one Datuk Azman Yusoff for his political party.

He is accused of committing the act at the Prime Minister's Office, Bangunan Perdana Putra, Federal Government Administration Centre in Putrajaya between March 1, 2020 and Aug 20, 2021.

He faces two additional charges of receiving RM195 million gained from illegal activities from Bukhary Equity, which was deposited into Bersatu's CIMB Bank account.

The acts were allegedly committed at CIMB Bank, Menara KL Branch, Jalan Stesen Sentral between Feb 25 and July 16, 2021, and between Feb 8 and July 8, 2022.

Muhyiddin was represented by Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, Datuk K Kumaraendran, Chethan Jethwani and Rosli Dahlan.

The prosecution was led by deputy public prosecutor Datuk Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar, who is the head of the Appellate And Trial Division of the Attorney General's Chambers, along with Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin, and Ahmad Akram Gharib.

Hisyam in the Palace of Justice on Wednesday.

Hisyam, when met after the decision, said the defence respects the Court of Appeal's decision, and would study the written grounds by Azizah and decide on the next course of action, and report the matter at the Sessions Court.

Muhyiddin’s abuse of power and money-laundering case is fixed for case management before Sessions Court judge Azura Alwi on Sept 27.

The High Court had struck out the charges against the Pagoh Member of Parliament on Aug 15, 2023, and acquitted him after ruling that the charges did not stipulate any offence under the law.

On the prosecution’s appeal to the Court of Appeal, a three-member bench reinstated the charges after it found the High Court had erred in its decision and the charges were clear and unambiguous.