PUTRAJAYA (March 17): The Court of Appeal has fixed May 10 to hear Datuk Seri Najib Razak's (pictured) discovery appeal to obtain further evidence from the prosecution in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd-Tanore trial in relation to Goldman Sachs and Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz.

The date was fixed by Court of Appeal senior assistant registrar Nurul Azrina Mohamed Yusof following case management on Thursday (March 17).

Deputy Public Prosecutor Mustaffa P Kunyalam when contacted confirmed the appellate court hearing date. Nur Syahirah Hanapiah appeared for Najib during the case management.

Last July, High Court Justice Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah had dismissed Najib's application on the grounds that the defence application was merely a “fishing expedition” as the prosecution had already informed them that they are not in possession of the evidence or documents.

“This is casting the net far and wide in the expectation that something useful may materialise,” the judge added.

This follows the defence having tried to compel the prosecution to provide documents related to Goldman Sachs and the former Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor's family members who are presently being probed by the authorities.

With regards to Zeti, Justice Sequerah said he could not see how obtaining the documents from the former BNM governor and her family is relevant to the defence’s case.

The judge also called the bid to obtain the documents a “collateral attack” on the former BNM governor, saying Najib is trying to question her credibility. He then suggested that the defence can question Zeti when she is called to the witness stand.

Zeti is listed as the 26th witness in the on-going 1MDB-Tanore trial.

Goldman Sachs was involved in the three bond deals with 1MDB worth US$6.5 billion (RM27.23 billion) while Zeti's husband Datuk Dr Tawfiq Ayman and son were alleged to have received 1MDB funds from fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho through their company in Singapore.

A discovery application refers to a request for parties in a legal action to disclose each other's documents, which are deemed to be linked to a subject matter in a case.

The appeal was originally scheduled to be heard on Tuesday (March 15) however, the Federal Court had fixed the hearing of Najib's appeal with regards to adducing more evidence concerning Zeti's family, in relation to his SRC International Sdn Bhd conviction and sentence.

That application was dismissed at the apex court on Wednesday (March 16) by the bench led by the Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat.

Hence, the Court of Appeal hearing on Wednesday, which had been fixed earlier, had to be postponed and the hearing of that appeal rescheduled to May 10.