KUALA LUMPUR – The sessions court here today allowed the defence in the undersea tunnel corruption case involving former Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to commence impeachment proceedings against the key prosecution witness.
Judge Azura Alwi allowed the application to ascertain if there were discrepancies between the statement of the 23rd prosecution witness, Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZCSB) Director Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli, recorded by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for the case involving businessman G. Gnanaraja’s in the Shah Alam Court and his testimony in the sessions court here.
Azura also ordered for the court to be furnished with copies of Zarul Ahmad Zulkifli’s recorded statements for scrutiny before it is presented to the defence.
“If there are discrepancies, then copies of the statements will be handed over to the defence to commence impeachment proceedings to challenge the credibility of SP23 (Zarul Ahmad),” she said.
Case mention was set for November 17 for both parties to update the court on the submission of the copies and decide on whether to allow the continuation of the impeachment proceedings.
Earlier in the proceedings, deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin said the prosecution will furnish copies of the statements within two weeks.
Lim’s lawyer Gobind Singh Deo submitted, however, that the copies should be furnished to the defence first to point out the alleged conflicting statements to the court.
Today’s proceedings were also attended by DPP Ahmad Akram Gharib and Mahadi Abdul Jumaat, and lawyer Haijan Omar representing Lim.
Lim is facing four corruption charges involving the proposed construction of an undersea tunnel and paired roads project in Penang. – November 2, 2023