The lawyer for Crown prosecutor Margaret Cunneen has accused the Independent Commission Against Corruption of trying to run a "show trial" into allegations she attempted to pervert the course of justice.
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The commission is investigating allegations that Ms Cunneen SC and her 26-year-old son, Stephen Wyllie, told his 25-year-old girlfriend Sophia Tilley to fake chest pains to avoid a police breath test after a car crash in May.
Ms Cunneen lost her Supreme Court bid to shut down the inquiry last week but her legal team, led by Arthur Moses SC, immediately appealed against the ruling.
At a hearing on Tuesday, Mr Moses told the Court of Appeal - Chief Justice Tom Bathurst and Justices John Basten and Julie Ward - that the commission needed to explain its decision to hold a public inquiry.
"It might sell a few newspapers but that doesn't give it the justification," Mr Moses said.
"There has to be something more than that. Seriously, what is the purpose? Is it to be a public flogging? Is it a show trial? What is it?"
The Cunneen camp is challenging the ICAC's power to investigate the trio and to hold a public hearing.
It has demanded reasons for the commission's decision to launch the investigation and to proceed to a public inquiry.
But Jeremy Kirk SC, for the commission, told the Court of Appeal that the secrecy provisions in the ICAC Act precluded it from handing over that information.
Mr Moses said that Mr Wyllie and Ms Tilley had become "collateral damage" in the investigation "purely because they're related to a public official" and a public inquiry would invade their privacy.
Ms Cunneen has been the deputy senior Crown prosecutor since 2002. Mr Moses argued that the commission had taken into account the "irrelevant consideration" of her public position when it decided to launch the inquiry.
He said the Crown prosecutor was "no more than the mother of a son attending the scene of an accident".
But Justice John Basten said her official role as a prosecutor seemed to be "patently relevant". In some cases her personal conduct may affect her public position, Justice Basten said.
Mr Kirk told the court that the ICAC was permitted to take into account Ms Cunneen's role.
The ICAC is investigating allegations that the trio were attempting to pervert the course of justice, a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in jail.
The commission is empowered to investigate conduct of any person that could adversely affect the official functions of a public official, such as a police officer. The ICAC Act says such conduct could involve perverting the course of justice.
Mr Moses has argued that the conduct in this case does not meet the definition of corrupt conduct, a submission rejected by the commission's barrister.
Chief Justice Bathurst said the court would deliver its judgment "as soon as possible but I'm not prepared to put any time on it at present".
The ICAC has said it will not start public hearings until the case is resolved. If Ms Cunneen's court challenge is unsuccessful, it could start hearings in early December.
