PUTRAJAYA: Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has failed in his appeal to reinstate a civil lawsuit against the government over his Sodomy 2 conviction involving his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

       The appeal was dismissed by a three-man panel chaired by Justice Lee Swee Seng during an online proceeding yesterday.

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

       In the unanimous decision read by Justice Abu Bakar, the panel was of the opinion that the High Court did not err in striking out Anwar’s originating summons (OS) to reinstate the lawsuit.

       Anwar, in his argument to support the OS, had stated that the lead prosecutor in his sodomy case appeal, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, was not independent as the latter had received RM9.5mil from then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

       “The appellant only said that it was in the public domain that Muhammad Shafee had received the money from Najib. That allegation by the appellant was a mere assertion unsupported by evidence.

       “Therefore, the assertion that Shafee was not independent as the lead prosecutor is devoid of any merits,” the judge said.

       Even if it was proven that the money was paid to Muhammad Shafee by Najib, Justice Abu Bakar said it would not have affected the appeals at the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court.

       “The decisions given by those courts were given by judges independently and without any influence or knowledge of any payments between the two individuals.

       “Therefore, it does not matter if there was a payment by Najib to Muhammad Shafee, it is a matter for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate and the Attorney General to prosecute if there is corrupt payment and receipt of the said sum,” he added.

       The court said Anwar’s OS was essentially seeking to set aside the higher courts’ decision on the criminal charge against the appellant.

       “The collateral attack against the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court’s decision was rightly disallowed by the High Court.

       “The High Court was also right in deciding that the OS is an abuse of process as the appellant had challenged the appointment of Muhammad Shafee before the Federal Court and the same had refused the challenge in two reviews,” the judge said.