Sept 19 - Hearing Of AGC's Gag Order In Najib's Judicial Review Application Over Additional Document

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18  (Bernama) -- The High Court here has set Sept 19 to hear an application for a gag order by the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) to prohibit anyone from discussing issues related to a review application filed by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

The gag order concerns Najib’s application for a judicial review concerning his claims of the existence of an additional document that purportedly allows him to carry out the remaining duration of his six-year prison term under house arrest.

 Judge Alice Loke Yee Ching also set the same date (Sept 19) to hear Najib's application to amend the judicial review to include additional evidence in the application.

"The parties involved must file their submissions for the amendment application on or before Sept 5," said the judge during the case management, which was attended by Senior Federal Counsel Nurhafizza Azizan and lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, representing Najib.

The AGC filed the gag order application on Jan 20 this year on the grounds that the case touched on sensitive issues.

Last Aug 13, the Federal Court ordered the case to be remitted to the High Court for a hearing on its merits after dismissing the Attorney General's application to appeal the Court of Appeal's decision on the additional document.

The Federal Court also allowed additional evidence relating to an affidavit by Najib's son, Datuk Mohamad Nizar, regarding a letter from the Pahang Sultanate Council, dated Jan 4 this year,  to be admitted to support the existence of the additional document.

On Jan 6 this year, the Court of Appeal in a 2-1 majority decision remitted the case to the High Court for a hearing on its merits after allowing Najib's appeal against the High Court's decision to dismiss his application for leave to commence a judicial review.

Najib, 72, sought a mandamus order to compel the respondents to provide an answer and confirm the existence of the additional document dated Jan 29 last year.

He named the Home Minister, the Commissioner General of Prisons, the Attorney General, the Pardon 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 also sought an order that, should the additional document exist, the respondents or any one of them be directed to immediately implement it, including transferring 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 initiate a judicial review, ruling that four affidavits submitted in support of his claims — including statements by UMNO president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and UMNO vice-president Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail — amounted to hearsay and were inadmissible in court.

Najib has been serving his sentence at Kajang Prison since Aug 23, 2022, after being convicted of misappropriating RM42 million belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd.

He was sentenced by the High Court to 12 years’ imprisonment and a fine of RM210 million. The conviction and sentence were subsequently upheld by both the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court, which dismissed his appeals.

Najib later filed a petition for royal pardon on Sept 2, 2022. The Pardons Board subsequently reduced his prison term from 12 years to six, while the fine was reduced from RM210 million to RM50 million.

-- BERNAMA