NPA advocate Wim Trengrove on Friday asked the Supreme Court of Appeal to find that references to political interference in decisions to prosecuting ANC Jacob Zuma be ignored as they were irrelevant to the matter before the court.

"As a matter of law they are irrelevant, they should not have been made."

High Court Judge Chris Nicholson held that the State's decision to prosecute Zuma was unlawful because it had failed to take representations from him.

His judgment also inferred that former President Thabo Mbeki and some ministers of justice politically meddled in the National Prosecuting Authority's investigation of Zuma.

Trengrove asked the panel of five judges to let the matter rest for now, but indicated that the issue might come relevant in possible future litigation such as when Zuma might ask the courts for a permanent stay of prosecution.

"This very issue could be one of the centre pieces of the issues to come."

Trengrove said although the comments have serious implications in terms of misconduct of NPA bosses which should lead to steps such as "internal investigations" into the apparent conduct it should be struck out.

He said even if it suggested criminal conduct on the side of former president Thabo Mbeki and contraventions of the NPA Act the allegations should be struck out or simply be ignored.

Trengrove said the presiding judge in the high court made the findings of political interference without parties making any presentations on the matter.

"We submit that the lordship (Nicholson) was quite wrong (in making the comments)," Trengrove said.

He said the SCA should "simply" acknowledge that the allegation were of a most serious nature but rule that they were irrelevant to the matter before the court *1.

With acknowledgements to Andre Grobler, Giordano Stolley and Sapa.