KUALA LUMPUR: The Sessions Court will decide on Oct 7 if the sodomy case against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will be transferred to the High Court.

The two-week adjournment came after a tense exchange between the prosecution and defence on the legality of the transfer during proceedings yesterday.

The defence harped on the fact that Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail had signed the certificate transferring the sodomy case from the Sessions Court to the High Court.

In the initial stage of the sodomy case, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had assured Anwar that Gani and Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan would not be involved in the case.

This came about after Anwar accused the top two lawmen of fabricating evidence against him in his first sodomy case in 1998.
Anwar's defence team argued that by signing his name on the transfer certificate, Gani was involved in the case.

DPP Datuk Mohd Yusuf Zainal Abiden, however, said the transfer certificate signed by the A-G was valid.

"The prime minister can say anything he wants. That was just a statement. But we go by justice in accordance with the court of law."

Yusuf argued that under Section 418A(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code, it was mandatory for the Sessions Court to transfer the case to the High Court upon the tendering of the certificate.

"I can't say if he (Gani) had been disqualified unless the prime minister had said that by law. Only the law can disqualify him," Yusuf told Judge S.M. Komathy Suppiah.

Komathy: Will it not undermine public confidence in the administration of justice if the A-G, who is disqualified, signed this order?

Yusuf: The rule against bias applies. It is not applicable to administrative action. Nobody can sign the order (transfer certificate) apart from the A-G. I know this is difficult for you to decide, but unless somebody comes along and changes the law, we are bound by it, despite not liking it.

He further added that Komathy had no choice but to transfer the case to the High Court as the Sessions Court did not have an inherent jurisdiction to hear the case.

Anwar's lead counsel, Sulaiman Abdullah, contended that the certificate was not valid and that the sodomy case could be tried in the Sessions Court.

In likening Gani's signature to that of a "forger", Sulaiman said: "The A-G has no business signing this certificate. We are seeking for the court to say that there is no certificate here because it was signed by a person who was not supposed to sign it.

"What will the public think when the A-G, who has been disqualified by the highest executive in the country, signs this order?" Sulaiman asked.

After almost an hour, Komathy ordered a 20-minute recess and held a meeting with Yusuf and Sulaiman in chambers, after which she adjourned the case.

Anwar had claimed trial on Aug 7 to committing carnal intercourse against the order of nature on his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, 23, in a Kuala Lumpur condominium in June.

The PKR adviser was represented by a nine-member team, which included Sulaiman, R. Sivarasa, Sankara Nair, Amer Hamzah Arshad and Latheefa Koya.

Yusuf was assisted by Datuk Nordin Hassan, Hanafiah Zakaria, Wong Chiang Kiat and Farhan Read.