PUTRAJAYA: Come Feb 23, 2022, Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will know whether his civil suit against the government relating to his Sodomy 2 conviction will be reinstated.

       The Court of Appeal has fixed the date for decision after hearing submissions from lawyer Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, who represented Anwar, and Senior Federal Counsel (SFC) Suzana Atan, who is representing the government.

       A three-man panel, chaired by Justice Lee Swee Seng, sat on the Bench.

       Lawyer Harvinderjit Singh appeared for Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who is an intervenor in the case.

       The other judges on the Bench were Justices Abu Bakar Jais and Supang Lian.

       Anwar, who is the Port Dickson MP, is appealing against a decision by the High Court on Nov 8, 2017, where it allowed the government’s application to strike out his originating summons over his Sodomy 2 conviction involving Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

       Anwar alleged in his lawsuit that Muhammad Shafee, who was an ad hoc prosecutor in the sodomy case, received RM9.5mil from former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to lead the prosecution against him at the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court from 2013.

       After the suit was struck out by the High Court, Anwar filed an appeal.

       In September 2018, a special officer to former attorney general Tommy Thomas, Siti Rahayu Mohd Mumazaini, filed an affidavit in support of Anwar’s application to reinstate the suit.

       Siti Rahayu stated in her affidavit that Muhammad Shafee received RM9.5mil from Najib between 2013 and 2014 for handling the Sodomy 2 appeal.

       Muhammad Shafee is currently on trial for four counts of money laundering charges relating to this sum of money.

       Earlier, Sri Ram told the panel that the case should be remitted back to the High Court where the veracity of the purported million-ringgit payment to Muhammad Shafee could be tested.

       He added that this could only be done at the High Court as Muhammad Shafee must be cross-examined.

       He also told the panel that Anwar’s lawsuit was not a plain and obvious case that could be summarily struck off.

       “The payment was made by a person (Najib) who has interest in his (Anwar) conviction,” he said yesterday.

       Meanwhile, SFC Suzana said that she was standing by the High Court’s decision to strike out the case as the RM9.5mil payment to Muhammad Shafee was based on facts and evidence.

       On June 9, 2017, Anwar filed his originating summons and named the government as the defendant, claiming that he did not get a fair trial in the appeal relating to his sodomy conviction.

       In his affidavit, Anwar alleged that Muhammad Shafee received RM9.5mil from Najib to lead the prosecution team in the appeal over his sodomy conviction.

       Anwar was convicted and sentenced to five years’ jail for sodomising Mohd Saiful.

       He was given a royal pardon on May 16, 2018.