KUALA LUMPUR: Former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng has been allowed to begin impeachment proceedings against a key prosecution witness concerning the ongoing corruption trial involving the Penang undersea tunnel project.

       Sessions Court judge Azura Alwi said the court was satisfied after going through the 108-page statement by Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZCSB) director Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) that was recorded for another cheating case in Shah Alam involving him and businessman G. Gnanaraja.

       “There are only several portions found to be relevant to this case that will be handed over to the defence to commence impeachment against the 23rd prosecution witness, Zarul Ahmad,” she said.

       Azura listed in court the 31 pages that would be used for the impeachment proceedings.

       The document is intended for the defence, which was previously allowed to impeach Zarul Ahmad for his conflicting statements in this court and a previous case involving Gnanaraja.

       Following the ruling, deputy public prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin said the prosecution needed two weeks to hand over Zarul Ahmad’s statement to the defence team, as they needed to redact the pages that were not involved.

       Azura allowed the prosecution’s request and set Jan 17 for the next case mention.

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       Zarul Ahmad’s statement had been produced in a separate trial in Shah Alam in 2019, where Gnanaraja was charged with cheating Zarul Ahmad of RM19mil as an inducement to help drop money laundering charges against the latter.

       Zarul Ahmad had earlier told this court that RM2mil was given to Lim in a cash cheque for the Penang undersea tunnel and road construction project, while another RM2mil in cash had been given to Gnanaraja for it to be delivered to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to stop MACC’s investigation into his company.

       The defence team’s then-lead counsel Gobind Singh Deo disputed this claim, noting that Zarul Ahmad had previously stated in the Shah Alam Sessions Court that the RM2mil was only meant for Najib.

       According to the prosecution, Zarul Ahmad later “rectified” his statement to MACC in connection with the Shah Alam case.

       Meanwhile, defence counsel RSN Rayer told the court that Gobind was no longer the lead counsel after he was appointed as a minister following the recent Cabinet reshuffle.

       Another defence lawyer, Haijan Omar, said the defence team also needed time to go through the statement before the impeachment proceedings.

       Lim, 63, is facing an amended charge of using his position as then-Penang chief minister to solicit RM3.3mil in bribes as an inducement to assist Zarul Ahmad in securing the undersea tunnel project worth RM6,341,383,702.

       Lim allegedly committed the offence at the Penang Chief Minister’s Office, Level 28, Komtar, George Town, between January 2011 and August 2017.

       In the second amended charge, Lim is accused of soliciting a bribe of 10% of the profit from the company as gratification to secure the project.

       The offence was allegedly committed near The Gardens Hotel, Lingkaran Syed Putra, Mid Valley City here, in March 2011.

       Lim, who is DAP chairman and Bagan MP, faces two further charges of causing two plots of land worth RM208.8mil, belonging to the Penang government, to be disposed of to two companies linked to the state’s undersea tunnel project.