Kuala Lumpur: The Federal Court today rejected a preliminary objection by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak concerning the Attorney General’s application for leave to appeal about an additional document in the former prime minister’s case. A three-member bench led by Chief Judge of Malaya Datuk Seri Hasnah Mohammed Hashim unanimously decided that the seven questions of law proposed by the Attorney General relate to the issue of introducing new evidence. Consequently, the preliminary objection was dismissed without any order for costs, and the panel proceeded to hear the application for leave to appeal.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Attorney General Datuk Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar argued that Najib’s counsel’s preliminary objection should not be considered by the Apex Court. He contended that the appeal application is not an interlocutory matter. In contrast, Najib’s counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, argued that the Attorney General’s application for leave to appeal lacked competence and should be dismissed. He claimed that the questions of law do not satisfy the threshold necessary for leave to appeal under Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964.
On January 6, the Court of Appeal, in a 2-1 majority decision, sent Najib’s case back to the High Court to be heard on its merits. This decision was related to Najib’s claim about an additional document allegedly allowing him to serve the remainder of his six-year prison sentence under house arrest. The Court of Appeal’s decision overturned an earlier High Court ruling that had dismissed Najib’s application for leave to commence a judicial review regarding the alleged document.
Najib is seeking a mandamus order to compel the respondents to confirm and disclose the existence of the alleged additional document dated January 29, 2024. He named several respondents, including the Home Minister, Commissioner-General of Prisons, Attorney General, and others. He is also seeking an order that, if the document is proven to exist, the respondents should enforce it immediately, allowing his transfer from Kajang Prison to his residence in Kuala Lumpur to serve the rest of his sentence.
On July 3 of the previous year, Justice Datuk Amarjeet Singh dismissed Najib’s application for leave to initiate a judicial review. The court ruled that the four affidavits supporting his claim, which included statements by UMNO president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and UMNO vice president Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail, were hearsay and inadmissible.
Najib has been serving his sentence at Kajang Prison since August 23, 2022, after being convicted for misappropriating RM42 million from SRC International Sdn Bhd. Initially sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined RM210 million, his sentence was later reduced to six years and a fine of RM50 million following a royal pardon request on September 2, 2022, which was granted by the Pardons Board.