A three-member Federal Court bench chaired by Court of Appeal president Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim said Rosmah, former prime minister Najib Razak’s wife, did not meet the threshold required under Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964.
She was appealing against a Kuala Lumpur High Court decision two years ago denying her leave to proceed with a judicial review targeting the validity of the former Federal Court judge’s appointment.
“There are no novel issues of public importance shown in the legal questions framed,” said Abang Iskandar who sat with Justices Nordin Hassan and Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil.
The bench also ordered Rosmah to pay the government RM30,000 in costs.
In her application, Rosmah filed six legal questions, including whether former attorney-general Idrus Harun was entitled to backdate Sri Ram’s appointment to August 2018, given that Idrus was only appointed as attorney-general in March 2020.
Under Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964, an applicant must satisfy the Federal Court that the proposed appeal contains novel legal and constitutional questions of public importance which are being raised for the first time.
Rosmah also contended that Sri Ram’s appointment under Section 376(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code did not extend to her corruption trial.
Rosmah was convicted in September 2022 of soliciting RM187.5 million from former Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin through her former aide, Rizal Mansor, as an inducement for assisting the company in securing the solar power project.
She was also convicted of receiving bribes amounting to RM5 million from Saidi, through Rizal, and another RM1.5 million also from Saidi.
Sri Ram died on Jan 29 last year.
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