Court dismisses Rosmah’s appeal to recuse trial judge in corruption case

DATIN Seri Rosmah Mansor failed in her application to recuse Justice Datuk Mohamed Zaini Mazlan from presiding over her RM1.25 billion solar hybrid corruption case.

Rosmah, 74, was convicted on 1 September 2022 by Justice Zaini, who is now a Court of Appeal judge, and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment and fined RM970 million after being found guilty of three graft charges involving a project to supply solar energy to 369 rural schools in Sarawak.

The three-judge panel chaired by Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim made this decision after finding that Rosmah had failed to show the court that there was merit in the appeal.

“Following that, the court dismisses Rosmah’s appeal as the appellant and upholds the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision on September 1, 2022,” he said, sitting with judges Datuk Azman Abdullah and Datuk Noorin Badaruddin.

During his submissions, Datuk Jagjit Singh said his client had asked the judge to recuse himself from hearing or deciding on his case relating to the solar hybrid project.

He said Justice Zaini should recuse himself after allegedly instructing the court's Research Unit to prepare a draft judgment before delivering the decision.

At the original trial, Justice Zaini sentenced Rosmah to 10 years’ jail on each of the three charges. However, the sentences are to run concurrently, meaning she would serve only 10 years in total.

The judge also imposed a fine of RM970 million. Failure to pay the fine could result in an additional 30 years' imprisonment.

Rosmah was convicted of soliciting RM187.5 million and receiving bribes totalling RM6.5 million from Saidi Abang Samsudin, the former managing director of Jepak Holdings.

However, the High Court granted a stay of execution on the sentence and fine pending her appeal at the Court of Appeal.

Rosmah’s legal team, comprising Jagjit, Datuk Akberdin Abdul Kader, Azrul Zulkifli Stork, and Datuk Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin, argued that Justice Zaini should recuse himself due to a purported leak of the draft judgment just two days before it was officially delivered.

They submitted a voluminous 700-page written argument in support of their appeal. The prosecution was represented by Deputy Public Prosecutor K. Mangai.

Previously, Rosmah’s lawyers urged the court to hear the appeal on the judge’s recusal before proceeding with the main appeal against her conviction and sentence.

Rosmah, the wife of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, is entitled to bring a final appeal from today’s decision to the Federal Court. - September 17, 2025