PUTRAJAYA: A Court of Appeal judge has recused herself from hearing Datuk Seri Najib Razak's appeal to reinstate his RM1.9 million lawsuit against former attorney-general Tan Sri Tommy Thomas.
Judge Datuk Faizah Jamaludin cited her husband's previous employment with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Malaysia as her reason for stepping down.
PwC had reportedly provided services to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), a key issue linked to Najib's ongoing corruption case for misappropriating RM2.33 billion belonging to the sovereign wealth fund.
Faizah, part of a three-judge panel, said her husband had retired last year.
The court then set Dec 3 for the next case management.
Earlier, lawyer Datuk Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin, who appeared for the former prime minister, applied for Faizah's recusal due to her husband's association with PwC, which was involved in 1MDB's asset recovery and debt management.
However, Thomas's lawyer Alan Adrian Gomez said that while there was no direct link between PwC's asset recovery work and the lawsuit, his team did not object to the application in the interest of justice.
This marks the second time a judge has withdrawn from hearing the appeal. On Oct 4 last year, judge Datuk Azizah Nawawi recused herself, citing her husband's past association with Thomas and the public interest nature of the case.
The former Pekan member of parliament is appealing the High Court's decision to dismiss his suit seeking RM1.9 million in damages and a declaration that Thomas had committed misfeasance in public office.
Judge Datuk Ahmad Bache in his judgment said Najib's suit against Thomas constituted a collateral attack on the prosecution of all criminal charges against the former.
He said Najib had prematurely launched a civil action based on criminal charges which had yet to be determined in the criminal court.
Ahmad said the causes of action of misfeasance in public office and the allegation of malicious process were not sustainable and a non-starter because Thomas did not even conduct the prosecution of Najib's criminal cases.
In his statement of claim, Najib said he had been wrongfully accused in court over the four 1MDB-related cases.
He claimed the charges against him were part of a move planned in advance by Thomas, which was also in line with the Pakatan Harapan government's agenda at the time.
Najib claimed that in 2015, Thomas had met Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to discuss Najib's alleged wrongdoing and mismanagement involving 1MDB funds and also advised Dr Mahathir to take civil and criminal action against him over his involvement in 1MDB.
Najib is currently serving a prison sentence after the Federal Court upheld his conviction and sentence of 12 years' jail and RM210 million fine, on being found guilty of embezzling RM42 million in funds belonging to SRC International.
Najib is now on trial for multiple corruption charges involving the 1MDB financial scandal, audit tampering and money laundering.