PUTRAJAYA: The hearing of former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng’s corruption case involving the construction of an undersea tunnel and paired road project in Penang will remain in the Sessions Court.

       This followed a decision by a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal headed by Justice Datuk Nor Bee Ariffin yesterday in unanimously dismissing Lim’s appeal to transfer his corruption trial from the Sessions Court to the High Court.

       Judge Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali, when delivering the court’s decision, said Lim’s approach in using Section 417 of the Criminal Procedure Code, specifically for the trial to be held at the High Court as a platform to bring his appeal to the Federal Court, should not be allowed.

       (For cases starting in the Sessions Court, the appeal will end in the Court of Appeal while cases starting in the High Court culminate in the Federal Court).

       Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali added that there was no mistake made by the High Court judge in ruling that Lim failed to meet the requirements under Sections 417 (1) (b) and 417 (1) (e) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

       The two legal questions raised by Lim did not belong to extraordinary legal questions or had never been decided by any court before, he said.

       He said Lim’s appeal was therefore dismissed and the High Court’s decision upheld. Also sitting on the panel was Justice Hashim Hamzah.

       Lim, who is the Bagan MP, filed an appeal against High Court judge Muhammad Jamil Hussin’s decision to dismiss his application to transfer his case to the High Court.

       Lim is facing charges involving the construction of an undersea tunnel and paired roads in Penang worth RM6.3bil. — Bernama