Umno, BN politicians fail in bid for leave to appeal MACC compound notices

Thirty-one individuals including Perak Menteri Besar Saarani Mohamad today failed in their bids to challenge the compound notices issued by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) three years ago over allegations of receiving money from 1MDB.

This followed the decision by the Federal Court dismissing their applications for leave to pursue their appeal in the Federal Court against the lower court's decision.

The High Court on Feb 27, 2020 disallowed their applications to obtain leave to commence a judicial review to challenge the compound notices, and the Court of Appeal also rejected their appeals on Oct 15 last year.

The 31 individuals represented the Umno and Barisan Nasional divisions that were issued with compound notices by MACC. They include Saarani, representing Perak Umno, Umno Supreme Council member Shahrir Samad and former Pulai MP Nur Jazlan Mohamed.

Federal Court judge Hasnah Mohammed Hashim who sat alone on the panel held that there were no novel issues raised for the court to decide.

Hasnah said the applications for leave to appeal did not meet the threshold requirement under Section 96 (a) of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964. 

She awarded no costs as senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly @Arwi, representing MACC and its chief commissioner, did not seek any.

In their applications, the individuals sought an order to declare that the compounds issued by MACC on Oct 7, 2019 were null and void.

They also sought an order to quash the compound notices and an injunction order to stop MACC from enforcing the compounds or proceeding with the prosecution.

Earlier, lawyer Mohamed Shahrul Fazli Kamarulzaman, representing the individuals, requested that the court grant leave to appeal to decide on eight legal questions, saying the issuance of the compound notices was an administrative decision by MACC which could be subjected to judicial review.

However, Hanir argued that the decision which the individuals sought to challenge was academic as the offer to accept the compounds had lapsed, adding that they were given 14 days from the issuance of the notice on Oct 7, 2019, to accept or reject them.