KUALA LUMPUR: The Sessions Court has fixed July 21 to decide on Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan's application to strike out the corruption charges against him.
Judge Rozina Ayob fixed the date for proceeding this afternoon and is scheduled to deliver her decision at 3pm that day.
After hearing lengthy submissions by lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad, who represents the Perikatan Nasional (PN) lawmaker and Deputy Public Prosecutor Rasyidah Murni Azmi, the court set the date.
Earlier, Amer submitted that the defence is not looking for a total acquittal for Wan Saiful but instead for the court to order a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA).
This, he said, was because the charges against Wan Saiful were defective, as it did not state any specific date and time of the alleged offences.
He said this hindered them from adequately preparing their defence and that it was prejudice against the accused as it affected his constitutional right to a fair trial.
Rasyidah, however, submitted that the charges were complete, and Wan Saiful's claims that the charges were defective were premature at this juncture.
She also submitted that at this stage, Amer's team had ample time to prepare their defence and alibi.
Rozina ordered both parties to submit their written submissions to the court by July 7.
Wan Saiful, 47, is charged with soliciting a bribe from one Lian Tan Chuan as an inducement for him to help a company, Nepturis Sdn Bhd, secure the "Central Spine Road: Sertik to East Coast Expressway Interchange" project, worth RM232 million, from the Federal Government.
Wan Saiful is charged with receiving RM6,962,694.54, which was transferred from a Maybank Islamic Bhd account owned by Nepturis Sdn Bhd into a CIMB Bank Bhd account held by his company, WSA Advisory Group Sdn Bhd, as a reward for helping the company obtained a letter of acceptance for the project.
He is alleged to have committed both offences at the Royal Lake Club, Taman Tasik Perdana here, in April last year and at CIMB Bank Bhd Bukit Tunku branch, Taman Tunku, Bukit Tunku here, between July 8 and Sept 30 last year.