KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here set April 28 to hear an application by the Attorney General’s Chamber (AGC) for a gag order concerning Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s claim on the existence of additional documents that could allow him to serve the remainder of his six-year prison sentence under house arrest.
Judge Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz, who set the date during the case management today, said the application would be heard at 2.30 pm.
She ordered both parties to file their submissions by April 11 and the reply by April 23.
The proceedings were attended by Senior Federal Counsel Nurhafizza Azizan and Federal Counsel Ainna Sherina Saipol Amin, representing the Attorney General as the third respondent, and lawyers Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee, representing Najib.
On Jan 20, the AGC applied for a gag order, citing that the case involved sensitive issues.
On Jan 6, in a 2-1 majority decision, the Court of Appeal remitted the case to the High Court for a hearing on its merits, after allowing Najib’s appeal against the High Court’s earlier dismissal of his application for leave to commence the judicial review.
Najib, 71, filed for a mandamus order compelling the respondents to disclose and confirm the existence of an additional document dated Jan 29 last year.
He named the Minister of Home Affairs, Commissioner General of Prisons, Attorney General, Federal Territories Pardons Board (covering Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, and Putrajaya), Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform), Director-General of the Legal Affairs Division in the Prime Minister’s Department, and the Government of Malaysia as respondents.
The former Pekan MP is also seeking an order that, should the additional document exist, all or any of the respondents must enforce it and immediately transfer him from Kajang Prison to his residence in Kuala Lumpur to serve the remainder of his sentence under home detention.
On July 3 last year, High Court Judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh dismissed Najib’s application for leave to commence a judicial review, ruling that the four affidavits submitted in support of his claim - including statements from UMNO president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and vice president Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail - were hearsay and inadmissible.
Najib has been serving his sentence at Kajang Prison since Aug 23, 2022, following his conviction for misappropriating RM42 million from SRC International Sdn Bhd. He filed a petition for royal pardon on Sept 2, 2022.
The High Court initially sentenced him to 12 years in prison and an RM210 million fine, a decision upheld by both the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court during his appeals.
However, subsequently, the Pardons Board halved his prison term to six years and reduced the fine to RM50 million.
