PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court has stood its ground not to grant any postponement to Datuk Seri Najib Razak's final appeal after barring the former prime minister's newly appointed lead counsel from discharging himself.
Chief Justice made the decision to proceed after deliberating on Hisyam Teh Poh Teik's pleas for an adjournment, failing which he wanted to discharge himself.
After Hisyam insisted on this, Tengku Maimun asked whether the defence was relying on the written submissions which had been filed by Najib's previous counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, to which the counsel replied in the affirmative.
She then ordered for the proceedings to begin.
Earlier, Tengku Maimun along with the other Federal Court bench comprising Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim and Federal Court Judges Datuk Nalini Pathmanathan, Datuk Mary Lim Thiam Suan and Datuk Muhamad Zabidin Mohd Diah, deliberated for almost two hours on Hisyam's request for an adjournment as he was not ready to proceed with the appeal hearing.
The senior counsel had then informed the court that he wished to discharge himself if the court insisted on continuing with the hearing.
The court was then called into recess and after the judges returned, Tengku Maimun said the judges had taken time to deliberate and they were unanimous in the view that Hisyam had failed to show adequate cause to discharge himself.
She then ordered lead prosecutor Datuk V Sithambaram to proceed with his submissions. Also present in court today was Solicitor General I Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh.
Najib, 69, is appealing against the 12 year jail sentence and RM210 million fine that was imposed against him by the High Court for misappropriating RM42 million of SRC International money.
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