KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 9): Lawyers representing Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor on Friday (Dec 9) wanted the police and the Federal Court registrar to provide an update on an investigation into the leak of court documents claimed to be draft judgements of their client's criminal case online, before the verdict was delivered last September.

In a joint statement, lawyers Datuk Akberdin Abdul Kader, Datuk Jagjit Singh and Azrul Zulkifly Stork said the Federal Court registrar office lodged two reports over the leak of the documents for their client's case.

"The Federal Court's chief registrar's office had said this action was a deliberate act aimed at undermining the integrity of court operations and the administration of justice.

"The Sentul OCPD Assistant Commissioner Beh Eng Lai said that investigation had commenced and 10 people including a judge and a legal officer had been identified," they said, adding that a police probe should have been concluded by now, and full disclosure should be made.

According to a report by Utusan Malaysia earlier this week, Beh said so far, there was no one to charge with the leaked documents as the deputy public prosecutor's office had asked for further investigation to be conducted, after the Attorney General's Chambers had returned the investigation papers.

Akberdin told theedgemarkets.com that it had been months since the investigation, with parties not knowing the outcome.

Azrul added that the authorities and the court should have investigated the matter and hence, should be transparent about the result of the investigation.

The lawyers said according to High Court judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan's written grounds, the two documents were opinions written by the Kuala Lumpur High Court research unit, which prompted two questions, namely:
• Who was the person who instructed the research unit to write them?
• Who were the two persons who received the instructions?

Akberdin, Jagjit and Azrul further added that the instruction to prepare the first document was made on June 24, and submitted on June 29 to Mohamed Zaini.

"It is extremely pertinent to be cognisant of the fact that Paragraph 2 of the first opinion (first draft judgement) had noted that the decision on Rosmah's case was scheduled to be delivered on July 7. It therefore becomes patently clear that the first draft was prepared, completed and submitted before Zaini was scheduled to deliver his verdict on July 7.

"The instruction to prepare the second opinion was also made on June 24, but it was submitted a month later on July 28. Again on the face of the document it was said it was prepared for Zaini."

The judge categorically stated that "in fact they were draft opinions and were not in fact final opinions" and said they were not prepared for him nor were they prepared on his instructions and they remained just that (opinions).

"They were not my grounds nor do I seek to rely on them or use them as a working draft for my judgement," the judge had said.

The lawyers said as the police investigation is likely to be completed, the Federal Court chief registrar's office should also issue a public statement as to whether it is the current prevalent practice for research units of the High Court, the Court of Appeal, and the Federal Court to prepare such opinions in the form of draft judgements for the benefit of judges.

They cited that justice must be done and not seen to be done, they added that it is of paramount importance that the judgements in civil and criminal cases will always be written personally by the judge hearing the case during trial or when it goes up on appeal by the judges hearing it.

"The public and litigants, in particular, are entitled to demand that the conduct and integrity of all judges at all levels be impeccable and untainted," they said.

They further quoted first US president George Washington, who said, "The administration of justice is the firmest pillar of government. Mere continuing silence does not render absolute confidence in the judiciary."

Jagjit also said the biggest question in this matter is who had ordered the research officer to write the purported draft as the document stipulated that it was for Mohamed Zaini although the judge denied it.

Akberdin also pointed to the fact that former chief justice Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad also commented on the matter and asked, "Who ordered to write the drafts and how were they leaked?"

He added that this is one question which remains unanswered, and they hoped the authorities and the court would shed some light on the matter.

Rosmah, 70, has been found guilty of all three counts of graft in relation to the solar hybrid project for 369 schools in rural Sarawak and sentenced to 10 years' jail and fined a whopping RM970 million. She is appealing the conviction and sentence to the Court of Appeal.