By Rahmat Khairulrijal | New Straits Times
The Sessions Court here has dismissed Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan’s application to strike out the corruption charges against him.
Judge Rozina Ayob made the decision after hearing lengthy submissions from both parties today.
“I dismissed the application. The court will continue to hear the case,” she said briefly.
Earlier, Wan Saiful’s lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad submitted that the defence is not seeking a total acquittal but instead a discharge not amounting to an acquittal.
This, he said, was because the charges against Wan Saiful were defective as they did not state any specific date and time of the alleged offences.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Rasyidah Murni Azmi, however, submitted that the charges were complete, and Wan Saiful’s claims that the charges were defective were premature at this juncture.
Meanwhile, the court also fixed eight days starting March next year to hear the Tasek Gelugor member of parliament’s case.
The prosecution said 27 witnesses would be called to testify during the trial.
Amer Hamzah, when met after the proceeding, said the defence will not be appealing against the Sessions Court’s ruling.
“We will continue to fight this case and take it as it is. We have to work on what we have,” he said.
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 RM232 million-worth “Central Spine Road: Sertik to East Coast Expressway Interchange” project 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 obtain 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.
