Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's bid to challenge the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on foreign exchange losses in the 1990s has been dismissed by the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

Justice Azizah Nawawi allowed a preliminary objection stating that the RCI findings cannot be challenged, as the High Court is bound by a Federal Court decision in the case involving senior lawyer VK Lingam. 

In 2007, the apex court ruled in Lingam's case that if the proceedings of a commission are allowed to be challenged, then the purpose of it being established would be rendered moot.

"As a result, the court is of the opinion that it does not have jurisdiction to question the contents of the RCI report," Mahathir's lawyer Mohd Haniff Khatri Abdullah said after meeting Azizah in chambers. 

No order was made as to costs. 

Haniff noted that he would take instructions from his client as to whether to appeal today's decision. 

"We have 30 days to file the notice of appeal," he said. 

As the lawyer pointed out, Mahathir is not challenging the findings of the RCI per se, but wants the inclusion of witness testimonies and submissions in the report. 

Senior federal counsel Mazlifah Ayob appeared for the Attorney-General's Chambers representing the six members of the RCI.

Last month, the AGC had applied to strike out Mahathir's suit as the RCI's findings are non-justiciable.

Mazlifah said at the time that the matter had become academic, as the findings had been released to the public.

Almost a year to the day, Mahathir had filed his originating summons against all six forex RCI members, claiming that their report was incomplete.

He named RCI chairperson Mohd Sidek Hassan, Kamaludin Mohd Said, Tajuddin Atan, Saw Choon Boon, K Pushpanathan and Yusof Ismail, along with former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, the cabinet and government as respondents.

Mahathir is seeking to invalidate the RCI report, as it does not include all witness testimonies – including written or oral requests – and submissions made by lawyers.

Tabled late last year, the RCI report concluded that Bank Negara lost RM31.5 billion due to speculation in the forex market between 1992 and 1994.

Among others, it also blamed Mahathir and his then-deputy Anwar Ibrahim for withholding information about the losses from the cabinet, and recommended an investigation against them.

The report also said Mahathir and Anwar had likely abetted Nor Mohamed Yakcop, who was then in charge of Bank Negara's forex operations.