KUALA LUMPUR: The government will file a motion for a gag order to restrain discussions about the case involving Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s judicial review application, concerning his claims of the existence of an additional document that purportedly allows him to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest.
Federal Counsel Shamsul Bolhassan, representing the government and six other respondents, stated that the application was made due to the sensitive nature of the case.
“The court has ordered the application to be filed by Jan 20, and Najib is required to file an affidavit in reply within a week. The court has also scheduled an online case management (e-Review) for the judicial review on March 11,“ said Shamsul after the case management proceedings before Judge Hayatul Akmar Abdul Aziz today.
Shamsul further stated that the government would oppose the requests of Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan, Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun, and Datuk Seri Zulkifli Noordin to act as watching brief on behalf of opposition leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin, PAS vice president Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, and Bersatu vice president Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee.
“The court has ordered the formal application for the watching brief to be filed by Jan 27, and the government must file an affidavit in reply by Feb 10,“ he added.
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Meanwhile, the former prime minister’s counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, said his team will oppose the gag order application, asserting that the case is of public interest and has been widely discussed, including in Parliament.
On Jan 6, in a majority 2-1 ruling, 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 dismissal of his application for leave to initiate judicial review.
Najib, 71, is seeking a mandamus order to compel the respondents to provide a response and confirm the existence of the alleged additional document dated Jan 29, 2024.
He has named the Minister of Home Affairs, the Commissioner General of Prisons, the Attorney General, the Pardons Board for the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, and Putrajaya; the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform), the 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, if the additional document is found to exist, all or any of the respondents be compelled to act on it and promptly transfer him from Kajang Prison to his residence in Kuala Lumpur to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.
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On July 3 of last year, High Court Judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh, who dismissed Najib’s application for leave to initiate a judicial review, ruled that the four affidavits supporting his claims, including from Umno president Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and vice president Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail, were deemed as hearsay and therefore inadmissible.
Najib, who has been serving his sentence at Kajang Prison since Aug 23, 2022, following his conviction for embezzling RM42 million from SRC International Sdn Bhd, filed a petition for a royal pardon on Sept 2, 2022.
The High Court had previously sentenced him to 12 years in prison and imposed a fine of RM210 million, which was subsequently upheld by both the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court.
However, the Pardons Board later halved Najib’s prison sentence to six years and reduced his fine to RM50 million.
