High Court delays hearing on Bar Council's challenge to Zahid's DNAA

In a courtroom session today, Judge Azizan Arshad granted the Bar Council's request to defer the hearing on its challenge to Zahid's discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA). The decision follows a Federal Court order that gave the Attorney General and Zahid permission to appeal a Court of Appeal ruling that had allowed the Bar Council to pursue a judicial review. The Federal Court has not scheduled the appeal hearing.

Representing the Attorney General were Federal Prosecutors Safiyyah Omar and Imtiaz Wizni Aufa Othman, while the Bar Council's counsel was S Abhilaash. Earlier, the Court of Appeal had unanimously upheld the Bar Council's challenge to the High Court's refusal to permit the review, noting that the dispute centered on the executive decision to halt prosecution rather than a criminal court order. Zahid received a DNAA for all 47 corruption charges in September 2023.