KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 8): The High Court here on Wednesday (Dec 8) lambasted Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor’s lawyer Datuk Jagjit Singh (pictured), demanding an explanation for his client’s failure to obey the High Court’s order.
According to a High Court order issued on Oct 15, Rosmah was supposed to return on or before Nov 21 and surrender her passport to the court before Dec 6.
However, her failure to attend her appeal proceeding at the Court of Appeal on Dec 2 had led to Jagjit revealing that she had not yet returned to Malaysia and was still in Singapore.
Subsequent to allowing Wednesday (Dec 9) and Thursday’s (Dec 10) trial proceedings to be vacated, Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan informed Jagjit that he wanted clarification on whether Rosmah had indeed failed to comply with the court order of returning to Malaysia on or before Nov 21.
“From what I read in the press and pursuant to the order that I had issued on Oct 15, 2021, would you like to clarify?
“Because pursuant to the order that I had given, your client was supposed to return to Malaysia on or before Nov 21, and based on what I read in the papers, she did not come back on that date.
“But that to me is hearsay, I would like to hear from you, Datuk [Jagjit],” he said.
Jagjit explained that his client had indeed gone against the High Court order and added that this was brought up at the Court of Appeal.
“I concede that there was that order made by your lordship (Justice Zaini). This issue also arose in the Court of Appeal. An explanation was given there, which will be similar to what is going to be mentioned to [Justice Zaini],” he added.
Similar to the explanation he had given at the Court of Appeal when a three-member bench – comprising Justices Datuk Hanipah Farikullah, Datuk M Gunalan and Datuk Hashim Hamzah – berated him for his client’s absence, he clarified that Rosmah’s planned return to Malaysia had changed due to the introduction of the Malaysia-Singapore Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL).
“When we fixed the date for her to return, we walked from Dec 8 backwards to include the quarantine period. That is how we got the date for when she is supposed to return to Kuala Lumpur and return her passport [to the court].
“Subsequent to that, there was a change in the quarantine status of travelling to and from Singapore, and this was called the VTL. One could just get tested, come in and vice versa. So, the quarantine period [we had set out when fixing the dates] no longer existed.
“For that reason, there was a miscommunication and misunderstanding and since the quarantine status changed, [Rosmah] stayed on in Singapore. She came back on Sunday (Dec 5) I think, and on Monday (Dec 6) she was at the Court of Appeal,” he said.
Justice Zaini rebuked that a new procedure over travel to Singapore amidst the pandemic does not change the court order that he had issued.
To this, Jagjit apologised to the High Court judge and took responsibility for the oversight.
“I will take responsibility in the sense that we should have come back to your lordship (Justice Zaini) and applied for the extension. The VTL was an oversight on our part.
“But I bear full and sole responsibility and I apologise to my lord,” he added.
The High Court judge stressed that court orders must be obeyed, as their value is tied to them being followed and respected.
“I mention this because a court order is sacrosanct, and it has to be respected. I would have been minded to grant the extension based on the change in the government's policy, but it does not change the fact that the court’s order must be respected and obeyed at all times.
“If we allow the court’s order to be breached, then there is no point for us to tire in this room, come to this court and so on,” he stressed.
Senior Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram quipped that he had forwarded this exact point to the appellate court bench, but noted that they seemed “unimpressed” with what he said.
The High Court had issued the order and temporarily released Rosmah’s passport to enable her to travel to Singapore for the purpose of accompanying her daughter Nooryana Najwa, who recently delivered her second child in a private hospital in the republic.
Rosmah is on trial for three charges in relation to the RM1.25 billion solar hybrid project.
The 69-year-old is facing a charge of soliciting RM187.5 million and two charges of receiving bribes totalling RM6.5 million from Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin through her former assistant Datuk Rizal Mansor as a reward for assisting the former secure the project to equip 369 schools in rural Sarawak with solar hybrid power.
Her solar hybrid project graft trial is slated to continue before Justice Zaini on Friday.