[UPDATED] Court of Appeal dismisses Daim’s bid for judicial review against MACC

PUTRAJAYA – Former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin and his family have failed in their bid to commence a judicial review against the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

This was decided by a three-member Court of Appeal bench here, comprising Datuk Azizah Nawawi, Datuk Hashim Hamzah, and Datuk Azizul Azmi Adnan.

Senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan appeared for MACC, while former attorney-general Tan Sri Tommy Thomas represented Daim and his family.

In their ruling, Azizah said the actions and decisions of public authority, such as MACC, in exercising its power in a criminal investigation are not amenable to judicial review.

“… otherwise, it would expose the criminal investigative process of all law enforcement agencies in the country to constant judicial reviews.”

She added that Daim’s complaints could be brought up during the criminal trial or through an application to have the charges dropped. 

“It cannot be said that the only option for the applicant(s) is that of a judicial review, as the legality of the charges can be challenged in the criminal trial itself.”

Senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan appeared for MACC, while former attorney-general Tan Sri Tommy Thomas represented Daim and his family.

On March 4, high court judge Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh ruled that Daim and his family failed to establish mala fide elements against the MACC officer who conducted the investigation.

Daim, 86, his wife Toh Puan Nai’mah Abdul Khalid, 66, and four children – Asnida, 62, Md Wira Dani, 45, Muhammed Amir Zainuddin, 28, and Muhammed Amin Zainuddin, 25 – along with Ilham Tower Sdn Bhd, filed the judicial review application on January 10.

They named the MACC and the public prosecutor as respondents. 

In the application, they claimed that on December 30, 2023, the MACC issued a statement saying that an investigation against Daim had been opened based on information obtained from the Pandora Papers.

Daim said the Pandora Papers are confidential files that were leaked in 2021, revealing the names of owners of offshore companies, assets and bank accounts outside Malaysia’s jurisdiction, and that these files do not indicate any wrongdoing by him or his family.

Daim and his family are seeking, among other things, a court order for the MACC and its officers to cancel all investigations initiated against them from February 2023 until now and also to cancel all notices issued by the MACC. – May 9, 2024