Ex-Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Osu Sukam on Thursday failed in his application for leave to appeal to the Federal Court against a decision of the Court of Appeal in allowing the appeal of Landon-based Ritz Casino to register a default judgement obtained in London to recover RM7,142,859.98 gambling debt.
The Federal Court, which sat in Kuching, made the ruling after hearing submissions from Osu's counsel Sugumar Balakrishnan and Colin Lau for the Casino. The three judges held that their court was not the correct forum for Osu to apply for leave. The English Court is.
Kota Kinabalu High Court Judge Datuk Ian Chin had on July 5, 2005 dismissed an application by the Casino to register a London Court order for Osu to pay up his gambling debth. Justice Chin had held that it would be against public policy to enforce the default judgement as irt was a gambling debt.
The Court of Appeal, however, reversed the High Court judgment and ordered the default judgement to be registered.
Osu then applied to the Federal Court for leave to appeal. The rest is history.
My Say:
When Osu's gambling debt first surfaced, many did not believe with some quarters claiming that it was politically motivated, especially when the RM7.1 million gambling debts incurred while he was Sabah Chief Minister. Osu will now have fight it out in London. Are we going to see more of such cases involving our leaders?
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