KUALA LUMPUR – The high court today granted leave for a judicial review to lawyer Rosli Dahlan against police and eight others, including the government, for freezing his bank accounts, purporting wrongful arrest, and imposing a travel ban against him.
Judge Datuk Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid said Rosli’s application for judicial review is justified to challenge the police action for unlawfully arresting him and subjecting him to a perverse money laundering investigation.
He then said that this was used as a basis to freeze his bank accounts and impose a travel ban on him.
“This court finds that the conduct of the third to fifth respondents to ‘freeze or ban first, investigate later’, prima facie, demonstrates numerous procedural misconducts and subjects the applicant to mala fide actions.
“The application has passed the threshold for a judicial review, hence leave (permission) is granted for the case to enter the substantive stage.
The judge also fixed May 8 for case management of the matter before the registrar in a decision delivered via Zoom.
Quoting Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, Kamal said: “Criminal investigation bodies – whenever they investigate anyone – are bound to comply with the law.
“…any abuse of those powers, such as using them for collateral purposes, not only constitutes possible offences such as abuse of power or obstruction of justice, but also constitutes actionable complaints through the courts’ statutory review powers”.
Following the decision, Rosli told the court that police had partially lifted the freezing of his accounts and that he filed a second judicial review to seek a release.
He also had to file a second one after police withdrew the freezing orders but placed a seizure order on his ASNB account to skirt the first judicial review.
Kamal also said that Rosli may ask for the second judicial review to be transferred to the same court.
Rosli filed the judicial review application in December, seeking, among other matters, an order for certiorari (a judicial review) against the police and the government to unfreeze his accounts and lift the travel ban against him, resulting from police linking him with a complaint lodged by AirAsia over i-Serve – which the lawyer said had no relation to him.
On December 29, Rosli filed an affidavit suggesting that this association resulted in his arrest, money laundering investigation, freezing of bank accounts, and imposition of a travel ban.
Rosli filed the review through Messrs Vin Law Co, naming key figures such as Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain and commercial crime chief commissioner Datuk Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf among the respondents. – April 3, 2024