KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 27): The High Court here today fixed March 18, 2021 to hear former Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Lokman Noor Adam’s contempt of court case following allegations that he threatened a witness in former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) trial.

High Court Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah fixed the date today after the court was informed that Lokman on Jan 14, 2021 lost his final appeal to set aside the leave obtained by the Attorney General (AG) to commence committal proceedings against him.

Committal proceedings empower the courts to hold a person in contempt for refusing to obey an order.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Deepa Nair Thevaharan appeared for the prosecution today, while lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah represented Lokman.

According to Deepa, Sequerah had asked parties in the case to file their respective written submissions by Feb 18, 2021, and to submit the necessary replies by March 4, 2021.

Deep said today: "Oral submissions will be heard on March 18."

On Jan 14, 2021, it was reported that the Federal Court’s five-member bench led by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat dismissed Lokman’s appeal, ruling that the notice to show cause was issued to Lokman, and therefore the court found that there was compliance by the respondent (public prosecutor) with Order 52 Rule 2B of the Rules of Court 2012.

It was reported that Tengku Maimun said the notice to show cause need not be issued by the court but by any party who moved the court for the contempt proceedings. She reportedly said the statement and affidavit-in-support by the respondent were sufficient to inform Lokman of the alleged contempt that he needed to answer.

According to news reports, former AG Tan Sri Tommy Thomas obtained leave from the High Court in 2019 to initiate contempt proceedings against Lokman, claiming that Lokman uttered words in a video interview on Sept 25 of the same year, and that the words constituted an implied threat against former special officer Datuk Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin for giving evidence in Najib’s trial in the High Court.

Thomas reportedly said that Lokman had lodged a police report against Amhari Efendi, who was the eighth prosecution witness, in respect of the evidence given by him in Najib’s trial.

It was reported that Thomas filed the committal proceedings against Lokman, seeking an order for Lokman to be committed to prison or be fined for his action.

On Jan 14, 2020, the High Court reportedly dismissed Lokman’s application to set aside the former AG’s ex parte order for leave to commence committal proceedings. It was reported that Lokman also lost his appeal in the Court of Appeal in May 2020.

During the Jan 14, 2021 Federal Court proceedings, Muhammad Shafee said the notice to show cause issued against Lokman was defective, Bernama reported.