Augustine Paul J:

[1] Dato' Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim (hereafter referred to as "the accused"), the former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Malaysia was produced before me on 5 October 1998 charged with five counts of sodomy under s 377B of the Penal Code and five counts of corrupt practices under s 2(1) of the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance No 22 of 1970 (hereafter referred to as "Ordinance No 22"). He claimed trial to all ten charges. The prosecution applied for four charges under s 2(1) of Ordinance No 22 to be tried together pursuant to s 165 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The defence did not object. I allowed the application. The four charges as originally framed read as follows:

Bahawa kamu Dato' Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim dituduh atas arahan Pendakwa Raya dan pertuduhan-pertuduhan ke atas kamu adalah seperti berikut:

Pertuduhan Pertama

Bahawa kamu, dari 12 haribulan Ogos 1997 hingga 18 haribulan Ogos 1997, di Kediaman Rasmi Timbalan Perdana Menteri, No 47, Jalan Damansara, di dalam Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, semasa menjadi seorang anggota pentadbiran, iaitu, menjawat jawatan Timbalan Perdana Menteri dan Menteri Kewangan telah melakukan perbuatan