KUALA LUMPUR – Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor has applied to recuse high court judge Adlin Abdul Majid from presiding over the RM1.65 billion suit filed by 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and 10 others against her and one other defendant.
In court documents, Rosmah claimed that there is a “real danger of bias” if the judge continues to hear the case, given that she was a partner at the law firm Lee Hishamuddin Allen & Gledhill for 10 years before becoming a judge.
Rosmah, in the application filed on June 25, claimed that the law firm was appointed by 1MDB in 2018 to handle legal matters in the sovereign’s wealth company’s effort to retrieve its assets.
“I truly believe that Lee Hishamuddin was appointed, as early as in 2018, to represent the plaintiff in this matter, supposedly for the purpose of retrieving 1MDB assets, as reported by the media.
“I was advised by my solicitor that there is indeed a ‘real danger of bias’ if Adlin hears and decides on this case, since the plaintiff is a client of Adlin’s former firm.
“It is within my absolute right to get a fair trial, and this right will be prejudiced or wasted if Adlin continues to preside over this case, as there is a possibility that it will affect and prejudice my rights as a person sued in this court, given that she was a partner of the law firm at the material time.”
“In the interest of justice, Adlin should withdraw herself from hearing this case and request that the case be transferred to another court to be heard before a different judge,” she said.
Rosmah added that her application is in no way to dispute the judge’s personal integrity or the country’s judicial administration system’s integrity.
“This application is done with respect and humility.”
On May 10, media reported that Rosmah was named as a respondent in the suit, alongside Singaporean Shabnam Naraindas Daswani, also known as Natasha Mirpuri.
1MDB has filed the suit over the receipt of nearly US$350 million (RM1.65 billion) worth of luxury goods through funds misappropriated from the sovereign wealth fund and 10 other entities.
The plaintiff contends that Rosmah had received, among other things, “thousands of items of jewellery, watches, and handbags,” with Shabnam procuring the items on her behalf.
On June 14, Rosmah, through her lawyers, gave an undertaking in court not to dispose of any “jewellery, handbags, watches, and spectacles” in her possession, subject to confirmation that the items are those listed in the plaintiff’s suit against her.
On the same day, the court ordered the defendants to file their defence by July 4 and scheduled the hearing for the recusal application on August 26. – June 26, 2024