AG objects to MPs’ bid for
watching brief in Najib’s
judicial review
Dusuki Mokhtar says there is no need for the opposition leaders’ lawyers to be present as they would be ‘just observing’.
The judicial review pertains to the royal addendum order that would enable Najib to serve the remainder of his six-year prison sentence under house arrest.
In an affidavit filed on Feb 10, Dusuki argued that the application made by opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin, Bersatu chief whip Ronald Kiandee and PAS vice-president Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar lacked merit.
He also said their lawyers would have no right to present arguments or get involved in the case beyond just observing, and there was no need for them to be present.
“If constitutional issues arise during the hearing of this judicial review application, (Najib’s) lawyer has the authority to argue on those issues without the need for the presence or arguments from the applicants in this application,” he said.
In addition, he said, the three applicants were not parties to the application for a gag order and did not have any right to raise objections against the application.
On Jan 22, the three MPs filed a motion seeking leave to be represented by Azhar Harun, PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan, and Zulkifli Nordin to hold a brief in Najib’s application for a judicial review.
In a majority 2-1 ruling on Jan 6, the Court of Appeal allowed Najib’s appeal against the High Court’s dismissal of his application for leave to initiate a judicial review, and remitted the case to the High Court for a hearing on its merits.
Najib, 71, is seeking a mandamus order to compel the respondents to confirm the existence of the addendum, dated Jan 29, 2024.
He named the home minister, the prisons commissioner-general, the attorney-general, the Federal Territories Pardons Board, the law and institutional reform minister, the director-general of the Prime Minister’s Department’s legal affairs division, and the government as respondents.
He is also seeking an order that if the additional document is found to exist, all or any of the respondents be compelled to execute it and transfer him from Kajang prison to his residence in Kuala Lumpur to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.
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 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.
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