PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court today unanimously dismissed the Attorney-General’s (AG) appeal regarding the purported existence of an additional document allegedly authorising former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest.
The decision was delivered by a three-member bench comprising Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Hasnah Mohammed Hashim and Federal Court Judges Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof and Datuk Hanipah Farikullah.
Justice Zabariah, while reading the judgment, directed that the matter be remitted to the High Court to be heard on its merits before a new judge.
On April 28, the Federal Court granted the AG leave to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s ruling concerning the alleged additional document related to Najib.
Najib, 72, is seeking a mandamus order compelling the respondents to confirm and disclose the existence of the purported document dated Jan 29, 2024.
He named the Home Minister, Commissioner-General of Prisons, Attorney-General, Pardons Board for the Federal Territories of 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 also sought an order that, if the additional document is proven to exist, all or any of the respondents be compelled to enforce it immediately and transfer him from Kajang Prison to his residence in Kuala Lumpur to serve the remainder of his sentence.
On July 3 last year, High Court Judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh dismissed Najib’s application for leave to commence judicial review proceedings, ruling that the four supporting affidavits submitted, including statements from UMNO president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and vice president Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail, constituted hearsay and were inadmissible as evidence.
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.
The High Court initially sentenced him to 12 years in prison and fined him RM210 million, a decision which was subsequently upheld by the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court.
However, his petition for a royal pardon on Sept 2, 2022, resulted in the Pardons Board halving his prison sentence to six years and reducing his fine to RM50 million. – Bernama