1MDB Civil Suit: Court Asked to Direct Former CEO Shahrol Azral to Answer Questions After Repeated ‘No Comment’ Responses

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 — The High Court hearing 1MDB’s US$5.64 billion civil suit was urged today to direct former chief executive officer Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi to answer questions after he repeatedly responded with “no comment” during cross-examination.

Senior Counsel GK Ganesan, representing former 1MDB investment director Kelvin Tan Kay Jin (the seventh defendant), raised the objection before Judicial Commissioner (JC) Mohamad Redzuan Idrus after Shahrol Azral gave his 15th “no comment” response when questioned by Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, counsel for former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

“My Lord, this is probably the 15th time this witness has said ‘no comment’. The witness has been brought to this court to comment. He has said things which are against the interests of the defendants. When questions are being asked which are against the interests of the plaintiffs, he says ‘no comment’,” Ganesan argued.

Citing Section 132 and Section 146 of the Evidence Act 1950, Ganesan stated that a witness is legally required to answer questions even if the answers might self-incriminate civil or criminal liability. He also referred to Section 148(2)(c), which allows the court to draw adverse inferences if a witness refuses to answer.

Muhammad Shafee, representing primary defendant Najib, supported Ganesan’s application.

In response, JC Mohamad Redzuan stated that the court would draw the necessary inferences if a witness refused to answer after being directed to do so. However, he expressed surprise that earlier counsel had not brought the issue to the court’s attention sooner.

“What perplexes the court is that the counsel who was cross-examining the witness earlier did not bring this thing to the court’s attention. Nor did the plaintiff’s counsel assist or instruct its witness to answer,” JC Mohamad Redzuan noted.

The US$5.64 billion civil suit was filed on May 7, 2021, by 1MDB and its subsidiaries—1MDB Energy Holdings Limited, 1MDB Energy Limited, 1MDB Energy (Langat) Limited, and Global Diversified Investment Company Limited.

The suit accuses the defendants—including Najib, Terrence Geh Choh Heng, Casey Tang Keng Chee, Vincent Beng, Kelvin Tan Kay Jin, and Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil—of breach of trust, breach of statutory duty, abuse of power, and conspiracy to misappropriate funds. 1MDB previously dropped its civil claims against former general counsel Jasmine Loo Ai Swan and former chief financial officer Radhi Mohamad.

The trial continues tomorrow.

–NMT