Judicial review over house arrest: Court allows Najib's bid to insert two more affidavits
KUALA LUMPUR - The High Court here today allowed Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s application to insert two more affidavits in his leave application to challenge the existence of a royal addendum order, purportedly issued with the consent of the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong, allowing the former prime minister to serve the remaining six years of his prison sentence under house arrest.
The two affidavits are the one affirmed by the Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail and the one that contained Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s speech at the 5th Convention of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) in Shah Alam last April.
Senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan from the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) said Judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh allowed Najib’s application to insert the two affidavits and set July 3 to decide on the leave application for a judicial review filed by Najib on April 1.
"The AGC objected to the two affidavits as they were filed at the very last minute, which was yesterday, when the court had already set today for the decision on the leave application.
"However, the court’s allowed the application to insert the affidavits," he told reporters after the proceedings held in chambers today.
Meanwhile, Najib’s lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah confirmed that the affidavits were accepted by the court.
Najib, 70, Najib, 70, in his leave application for judicial review filed las April, named Home Minister, Commissioner-General of Prisons, Attorney-General, the Pardons Board for the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya; Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (JPM) (Law and Institutional Reform), Director-General of Legal Affairs Division at JPM and the Malaysian Government as the first to the seventh respondents.
The former Pekan Member of Parliament is seeking a mandamus order to compel either all or one of the respondents to respond and confirm the existence of the additional decree dated Jan 29, 2024.
He is also seeking a mandamus order that if the additional decree exists, all or one of the respondents must enforce it immediately by transferring him from Kajang Prison to his residence in Kuala Lumpur for him to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest.
Najib has been serving his sentence in Kajang Prison since Aug 23, 2022, after being convicted of embezzling RM42 million in funds belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd.
On Sept 2, 2022, he filed a petition for a royal pardon. The Pardon Board reduced Najib's prison sentence from 12 years to six years, while the fine was reduced from RM210 million to RM50 million. - BERNAMA
