KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 10): Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor’s MySejahtera status again resulted in her solar hybrid graft trial in the High Court here on Friday (Dec 10) to be vacated and slated to continue next Monday (Dec 13).

Rosmah’s lawyer Datuk Jagjit Singh informed Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan that High Court deputy registrar Catherine Nicholas had verified his client’s MySejahtera status and it was still orange — meaning that she had been in close contact with a Covid-19 positive individual.

“My Lord (Justice Zaini), I understand that this morning, her status was verified by the court registrar. I was away from the verification, but I believe [her status] was orange.

“I didn’t see it myself, but I believe it was the same colour,” he said as he looked to the prosecution and court registrar for confirmation.

The court’s standard operating procedures only allow individuals with blue MySejahtera status — low risk — to enter court premises.

Justice Zaini said that the court had no choice but to vacate Friday’s hearing as Rosmah’s MySejahtera status was still not blue, but requested that Jagjit monitor his client’s status and report back to him next Monday to see whether or not the hearing fixed for that day could proceed.

“We have no choice but to vacate today (Friday), but can I ask that we do the same thing [we did today] on Monday? Datuk Jagjit, could you trouble your client to come on Monday, and we go through the same process and see whether her status has turned blue on MySejahtera,” the High Court judge said.

Senior Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram suggested that the trial proceed with a “hybrid” system — with Rosmah being cross-examined over an online medium.

“May I suggest to Your Lordship (Justice Zaini) that we convene, only if it is convenient to Your Lordship, and we proceed with this trial in a hybrid way. [Rosmah] can give evidence at her lawyer’s office or from her home. We will have a supervising DPP present; they can have a supervising solicitor present. Your Lordship will have [Rosmah] on a screen,” Sri Ram said.

Justice Zaini commented that the suggestion Sri Ram forwarded had crossed his mind, but noted that he wanted to be cautious as he had not sighted any provisions which enable the utilisation of the “hybrid” system.

“I have thought about that, Datuk Seri [Gopal Sri Ram], and I have gone through the relevant statutes. There does not seem to be any provision and I would like to be more cautious. We do not want to derail the whole trial just because we think it is okay at this stage,” the High Court judge said.

Justice Zaini previously vacated the trial proceedings on Wednesday due to Rosmah’s MySejahtera status being orange, and instructed Jagjit to monitor and update him on Rosmah’s status on Friday to ascertain if the trial hearing could proceed.

The trial hearing fixed for Thursday, meanwhile, was vacated at Sri Ram’s request as the senior DPP and former Federal Court judge said he was occupied with two Court of Appeal cases.

Now that the proceedings on Friday have been vacated, Sri Ram is slated to continue his cross-examination of Rosmah next Monday if her MySejahtera status turns blue.

The wife of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is on trial for three charges in relation to a RM1.25 billion project to equip 369 schools in rural Sarawak with solar hybrid power.

The now 70-year-old is facing a charge of soliciting RM187.5 million and two charges of receiving bribes totalling RM6.5 million from Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin through her former assistant Datuk Rizal Mansor as a reward for assisting the managing director secure the solar hybrid project.