PUTRAJAYA: Datuk Seri Najib Razak did not have the opportunity to cite 94 grounds in his final appeal to back his arguments on how the lower court had erred in upholding his 12-year jail sentence and RM210 million fine for misappropriation of SRC International funds.
Najib's lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said his client's then lawyer Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik did not submit any grounds during the proceedings at the Federal Court last year.
Shafee said Hisyam declined to submit after his application to adjourn the proceedings was dismissed by the court.
"However, the top court invited the prosecution to present their submissions.
"Inviting the prosecution to submit was wrong… Hisyam refusing to submit also was wrong.
"Thus, the decision by the Federal Court was made based on error upon error," he said.
Hisyam during the hearing, informed the court that he wished to discharge himself after the court dismissed his request for an adjournment as he was not ready to proceed with the appeal hearing.
However, the panellists led by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat dismissed Hisyam's request as he failed to show adequate cause to discharge himself.
Shafee said the Federal Court's decision against Najib was nothing more than a summary without any reasoning.
Earlier, Shafee said Hisyam was merely a "decoration" during the proceedings as he was not allowed to discharge himself from representing the former prime minister.
He said the top court made a fundamental error by forcing Hisyam to remain on board representing Najib at that time.
Meanwhile, the senior lawyer said Tengku Maimun should step down from chairing the appeal due to conflict of interest because of the virtue of her husband's Facebook posting.
Shafee said the transmissions of information sharing between husband and wife might occur and should be considered in a serious manner.
"The husband, Datuk Zamani Ibrahim, had made a statement to such an extent where he blamed my client for the downfall of 1Malaysia Development Berhad and SRC International.
"Very often an average husband and wife would share their opinion," he added.
At the eleventh hour of his appeal, Najib filed a motion to disqualify Tengku Maimun from hearing his case.
In his application, the former Pekan member of parliament said he was making the application not to disrespect the court and the ongoing proceedings but in the interest of protecting the independence of the judiciary.
He said he had received information about a Facebook post made by Zamani on May 11, 2018 which touched on Barisan Nasional's (BN) defeat in the 14th General Election (GE14) and Najib's leadership.
Najib said the social media post was highly disturbing in light of the fact that Zamani had clearly shown negative sentiments towards his leadership while he was prime minister.
He said Zamani had concluded that he had syphoned sovereign government funds into his personal accounts.
The hearing continues.
Najib, 70, is seeking a review of the Federal Court's decision to reject his application to adduce fresh evidence relating to the High Court judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.
He is seeking a review of the court's decision to dismiss his bid to postpone his appeal hearing as well as the decision to recuse Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun.
He is also seeking a review of the court's decision on Aug 23 last year, to affirm his conviction and sentence.
The former prime minister was found guilty of abuse of power in relation to a RM4 billion loan given by Retirement Fund (Inc) (KWAP) to SRC between August 2011 and March 2012.
He was also convicted of criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving RM42 million of SRC funds between Dec 26, 2014 and Feb 10, 2015.