KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has been ordered to file by June 9 his defence against a lawsuit by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and two others.
The High Court issued the order today when it rejected Najib's
application to stay the filing of his defence, pending disposal of his
bid to strike out the legal action over the 1Malaysia Development
Bhd(1MDB) issue.
Judge Abu Bakar Jais ruled that Najib's affidavit (written statement
used as evidence in court) only contained facts related to his
striking-out application, not on the stay bid itself.
Abu Bakar however ordered Najib's defence be filed by June 9.
Previously, the deadline was on June 2.
He also set June 23 to hear an application by Dr Mahathir and the
other two plaintiffs to be allowed to cross-examine Najib over an
affidavit supporting his striking-out application.
Dr Mahathir and the other plaintiffs - former Batu Kawan Umno
vice-chairman Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan and former Langkawi Wanita Umno member Anina Saadudin - alleged that the affidavit was "inherently improbable" and "inconsistent with undisputed contemporary
facts in the public domain".
The court would hear the cross-examination bid first before hearing
Najib's striking-out application.
Dr Mahathir and the other two plaintiffs were represented by counsel Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla. Najib's legal team was led by lawyer Tan Sri Cecil Abraham.
On March 23, Dr Mahathir, Khairuddin and Anina filed the suit against Najib, who also holds the presidency of both Umno and the Barisan Nasional ruling coalition.
The three plaintiffs are suing Najib over alleged abuse of power to
obstruct investigation into the 1MDB issue, involving the remittance of RM2.6 billion and RM42 million into Najib's personal accounts, among others.
Dr Mahathir, Khairuddin and Anina are seeking exemplary and aggravated damages of RM2.6 billion and RM42 million, respectively, among other reliefs sought.