Court adjourns hearing on Najib’s bid to revive suit against Tommy Thomas

Najib Razak filed a motion in March, seeking leave to appeal a Court of Appeal ruling which affirmed the High Court’s decision to strike out his RM1.9 million lawsuit against Tommy Thomas.PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court today adjourned, in a split 2-1 decision, the hearing of Najib Razak's application for leave to appeal to revive his RM1.9 million lawsuit against former attorney-general Tommy Thomas after being told he was recovering from a heart procedure.Bench chairman Abu Bakar Jais and Justice Azmi Ariffin allowed the former prime minister's request for an adjournment, while Justice Azimah Omar dissented, saying the application should proceed as scheduled.The hearing was briefly interrupted after Najib's counsel, Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin, informed the bench that his client wished to be present but was unable to attend because he was recuperating.Firoz also tendered a medical certificate in support of the application.Thomas's lawyer, Alan Adrian Gomez, objected to the postponement, arguing that Najib's attendance was unnecessary as the court was only hearing an application for leave to appeal.He also informed the court that an earlier request to adjourn the hearing had been declined by the registry.Abu Bakar subsequently sought the views of members of the Bar present in court on the accepted practice when counsel seek an adjournment on behalf of a client. The lawyers said such requests were generally accepted at face value.After briefly standing the matter down to consider the issue, the judges delivered separate opinions.Azimah said the request was made at the last minute despite Najib having been on medical leave since July 24."If you already knew that you were on medical leave on July 24, then the application should have been submitted on that day. It would have saved the court time in preparing for today's hearing," she said.Azmi, while expressing reservations, said he would allow the application after considering the views expressed."This will be the last adjournment.

The next hearing will proceed with or without Najib's presence," he said.Delivering the majority decision, Abu Bakar said that although both Najib and Thomas were represented by counsel, they remained the parties to the proceedings."Najib is unwell and, under the circumstances, I am allowing the application," he said.Najib filed a motion in March, seeking leave to appeal a Court of…