PUTRAJAYA, March 24 — Attorney General Datuk Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar made a personal appearance in the Federal Court today, ahead of a court hearing over a lower court ruling to grant Datuk Seri Najib Razak leave for judicial review over an alleged order for his house arrest.
Representing the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC), Mohd Dusuki appeared alongside senior federal counsels Shamsul Bolhassan and Ahmad Hanir Hambaly for today’s hearing.
Chaired by Chief Judge of Malaya Datuk Seri Hasnah Mohammed Hashim alongside Federal Court judges Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof and Datuk Hanipah Farikullah, the hearing relates to the AGC’s bid to seek leave to appeal the Court of Appeal’s ruling on January 6.
On January 6, in a 2-1 majority decision, the Court of Appeal remitted the case on Najib’s claim of the existence of an additional document purportedly allowing him to serve the remainder of his six-year prison sentence under house arrest, to the High Court to be heard on its merits.
This decision overturned the High Court’s earlier ruling, which had dismissed his application for leave to commence a judicial review regarding the alleged additional document issued by the former Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
In their present leave application to persuade the apex court to hear the merits of the appeal, the AGC has raised seven questions pertaining to the admission of fresh or additional evidence; and the role of the AG in judicial review proceedings.
Under Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act, leave for appeal is granted only if novel constitutional or legal questions of public importance are raised for the first time.
In Najib’s application for leave to seek judicial review filed on April 1, 2024, he claimed Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah issued the order during the January 29, 2024 meeting of the board, for the former to serve the remainder of his reduced sentence under house arrest.
In the application, Najib alleged that he received confirmation on February 12, 2024, about the issuance of the “supplementary order” or Addendum Order, which would allow him to serve a reduced prison sentence at home instead of the Kajang Prison where he is currently housed.
On February 2, 2024, the Pardon’s Board halved Najib’s sentence to six years for misappropriating funds amounting to RM42 million, which means he could be released as early as August 23, 2028.
Najib has been imprisoned since August 23, 2022, after the Federal Court upheld his conviction for criminal breach of trust, power abuse, and money laundering over the misappropriation of SRC International Sdn Bhd’s funds.
The Pardon’s Board said it had also decided to reduce his RM210 million fine to RM50 million, and his early release would be contingent on him paying this amount.
