KUALA LUMPUR: The Court of Appeal has rejected Datuk Seri Najib Razak's application to postpone the delivery of its decision on his appeal against his 12 year jail sentence and RM210 million fine for misappropriating SRC International Sdn Bhd funds.
The court, in a letter signed by the Court of Appeal Deputy Registrar Mohd Khairi Haron, informed Najib and his lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah that their application for the delivery of the decision to be deferred to a later date had been rejected.
The parties were told to ensure their presence at the Putrajaya court on Dec 8 as had been fixed.
It was reported that Najib had on Tuesday applied for the Court of Appeal to postpone the delivery of its decision on his appeal to set aside his conviction and sentence.
Earlier in the day, the Office of the Chief Registrar, Federal Court of Malaysia, had announced in a statement that the decision on Najib's appeal would be delivered on Dec 8.
Najib had appealed against the High Court's verdict which found him guilty of misappropriating RM42 million of SRC International funds.
Najib had sought for another date to be set as he would be under quarantine for seven days when he returns from Singapore on Dec 6.
The former prime minister had obtained approval to travel to Singapore to visit his daughter Nooryana Najwa, who would be delivering her second child.
Najib, who had also applied to the court for a return of his passport, left for Singapore on Monday (Nov 22) to be with Nooryana.
Shafee had also cited his ongoing RM9.5 million income tax and money laundering trial before Justice Datuk Muhammad Jamil Hussin at the High Court as another reason to seek an alternate date.
Najib in his application suggested that the Court of Appeal announce its decision in the following week, between Dec 13 and 17.
The decision involving Najib's appeal comes slightly over six months after the Court of Appeal bench led by Justice Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil reserved judgement in delivering its decision after hearing submissions from both the defence and prosecution which ended on May 18.
Meanwhile, Shafee when contacted about the Court of Appeal's rejection of their application, said he had yet to receive any updates on the matter.