Shahrir Samad’s malicious prosecution suit against Latheefa Koya, MACC and the Malaysian government has been resolved, while his case against Tommy Thomas remains pending
KUALA LUMPUR: The civil suit filed by Tan Sri Shahrir Samad against former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Latheefa Koya, the commission and the Government of Malaysia over alleged malicious prosecution has been amicably resolved at the High Court here.
However, the suit against former Attorney General Tan Sri Tommy Thomas, the first defendant, remains pending, with the court fixing Oct 16 to hear Shahrir’s application for leave to discontinue the action against him.
Shahrir’s counsel Datuk Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin told High Court Judge Gan Techiong that his client had reached a resolution with the second to fourth defendants.
“Accordingly, we withdraw with no liberty to file afresh and no order as to costs. The parties have also agreed that no statements will be made regarding this suit.
“In respect of the first defendant (Thomas), we will be filing an application for leave under Order 21 Rule 3(2) of the Rules of Court 2012 to discontinue the suit,” he said.
Senior federal counsel Zureen Elina Mohd Dom, appearing for the three defendants, confirmed the agreement.
Judge Gan then ordered Sharir’s claims against Latheefa, the MACC and the government to be discontinued without liberty to file afresh and with no order as to costs.
The court also directed Shahrir to file the application for leave to discontinue the suit against Thomas within seven days and fixed Oct 16 to hear the application.
Shahrir and Thomas were present in court.
On Monday, the court adjourned proceedings until today to allow the parties to continue discussions on a possible resolution. Shahrir had been scheduled to continue his cross examination by Thomas’s counsel Alan Adrian Gomez.
The former Johor Bahru Member of Parliament filed the civil suit against the four defendants in December 2023, alleging malicious prosecution.
The suit arose from the RM1 million cheque Shahrir received from former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for rehabilitation works on the Puri Langkasuka housing project in Larkin, Johor.
In 2020, Shahrir was charged with failing to declare to the Inland Revenue Board the RM1 million in income allegedly received from Najib. The High Court acquitted him of the charge on Jan 5, 2023.
Thomas, who served as Attorney General from June 2018 to February 2020, denied Shahrir’s allegations against him, including abuse of power, describing them as “indefensible.”
He maintained that he had resigned as Attorney General on Feb 28, 2020, while Shahrir’s criminal trial only began on July 26, 2022.
