Judge Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin said the suit should continue as there was no issue of prejudice.
“It is the view of the court that the management of this suit must continue and the filing of the defendant’s (Najib) defence statement is critical to ensure that the suit progresses efficiently.
“The disclosure of his defence statement will not prejudice him as the large extent of the defence has been disclosed in the criminal trial,” he said, referring to the trial for Najib’s abuse of power, money laundering, and criminal breach of trust (CBT) charges over RM42 million in SRC funds.
Last December, the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s decision in July 2020 to convict Najib on seven charges of power abuse, CBT and money laundering involving funds that were transferred into his personal bank accounts.
It also upheld Najib’s 12-year jail sentence and RM210 million fine. However, Najib was released on bail pending his final appeal before the Federal Court.
Fairuz pointed out that Najib’s lawyer Harvinderjit Singh had raised a point on the former prime minister’s potential outcome for appeal on his seven charges, while SRC lawyer DP Naban argued that his client should have the right to their day in court.
“It is the court’s view that the outcome at the Federal Court is purely speculative at this juncture.
“Whatever outcome at the Federal Court, it will not bar the defendant from making amendments to the pleadings in this suit,” the judge said.
Fairuz ordered Najib to file his defence statement within 30 days from today.
However, Harvinderjit requested an extension of time to file their documents because he and lead defence counsel Shafee Abdullah were going to the UK to brief the Queen’s Counsel on Najib’s final appeal.
“We will be back on March 8,” he said.
The court fixed April 1 for next mention, and allowed Najib to file his defence statement by March 31.
SRC filed the lawsuit against Najib and former directors Suboh Md Yassin, Azhar Osman Khairuddin, Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, Che Abdullah @ Rashidi Che Omar, Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi and Ismee Ismail over alleged breach of trust and breach of statutory duty over a RM4 billion loan from Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP).
However, the former directors were subsequently dropped from the lawsuit.