High Court to hear Najib's house arrest suit

Free Malaysia Today

4 days ago

Former prime minister Najib Razak, who was convicted of misappropriating RM42 million in SRC International funds, has been serving his sentence at Kajang prison since Aug 23, 2022.
PUTRAJAYA : Former prime minister Najib Razak will have his day in court in his attempt to compel the government to enforce a royal addendum allowing him to serve the remainder of his jail term under house arrest.
This follows today's Federal Court ruling affirming the Jan 6 majority decision of the Court of Appeal, which allowed Najib to adduce additional evidence and ordered the High Court to hear his judicial review application.
The attorney-general had said that Najib did not have an arguable case warranting a substantive hearing.
Chief Judge of Malaya Hasnah Hashim led a three-member bench that heard the appeal on July 2 and July 9. Also on the bench were Justices Zabariah Yusof and Hanipah Farikullah.
Zabariah, who delivered the unanimous decision, said Najib could also adduce fresh evidence on the purported existence of the supplementary addendum.
'But as of now, the addendum order exists, and its validity or whether it is genuine needs to be ascertained at the substantive hearing. We do not consider it right or fair to express any view at this stage,' she said.
Zabariah also said the bench took note that the attorney-general, who came as the guardian of public interest at the leave stage, had conceded the existence of the addendum.
She said Najib had fulfilled all of the requirements for the introduction of new evidence at the judicial review hearing.
'He made numerous efforts to confirm the addendum with the help of his lawyer, though he was in prison,' she said, adding that the former prime minister also satisfied the condition of reasonable diligence.
Hasnah said the hearing would be before a new judge who had been transferred to the Kuala Lumpur High Court from the Shah Alam High Court.
She directed that a case management be held on Aug 18. 'The judge will then fix an early hearing date, which should be a month after parties file their affidavits,' she said.
She also directed Najib and the respondents – the home minister, commissioner-general of the prisons department, attorney-general, Federal Territories Pardons Board (FTPB), law and institutional reform minister, director-general of the legal affairs division in the Prime Minister's Department, and the government – to file their affidavits simultaneously.
On July 2 last year, High Court judge Amarjeet Singh refused Najib leave as the affidavits filed in support of his application were hearsay evidence.
Najib learned of the addendum order after the FTPB announced, in early February last year, that his 12-year jail term had been halved and his RM210 million fine reduced to RM50 million.
He is currently serving a six-year jail sentence in connection with the SRC International case.
Najib filed leave for judicial review last April, relying on affidavits filed by Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Pahang menteri besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail based on what they had read on Tengku Zafrul Aziz's mobile phone.
Najib said he had sent letters to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, his deputy Zahid, the law and institutional reform minister, and four other respondents asking them to confirm the existence of the addendum, but received no response.
Najib's son, Nizar, filed an affidavit just before the Court of Appeal hearing in support of his father's application to adduce fresh evidence, which the appellate court allowed.
Nizar claimed the comptroller of the Sultan of Pahang's royal household, Ahmad Khirrizal Ab Rahman, had confirmed the existence of the addendum order and verified its authenticity.