The prosecution in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) audit report case seeks to call Arul Kanda Kandasamy as a witness to testify against his co-accused in the trial, Najib Razak, at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today.
Senior deputy public prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram made the application before judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan under section 63 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009.
The section states that in a situation where two or more people are charged with an offence under the same law, the court may require one or more of them to give evidence as witnesses for the prosecution if a written application is made by the public prosecutor.
Arul Kanda may have information related to transactions with Najib that may affect the outcome of the prosecution of the latter, said Sri Ram.
“He (Arul Kanda) has information in his possession relevant to the charge against the other accused (Najib) in relation to a particular meeting held in February 2016, and the events that followed that meeting.”
Arul Kanda, who was 1MDB CEO, and former prime minister Najib were sitting in the dock.
Najib’s lead counsel, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, said though the application has been formally made to the court, the prosecution still has to meet the requirements of the law.
“They can make this application. There are provisions governing the conduct, and there are cases and provisions that will support that (the application).
“It is Yang Arif’s total discretion, guided by law and so on. They (the prosecution) have to satisfy the court whether it (the application) is within the ambit of section 63 of the MACC Act.
“It is an unusual application. In fact, in modern times, it is probably the first time. I immediately see issues on this application, including issues constitutional in nature.”
Arul Kanda’s lawyer, N Sivananthan, said he will not be making any submission