Federal Court dismisses Najib's leave to appeal bid to lift Mareva injunction in SRC International lawsuit

PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court dismissed Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s application to get leave to appeal to set aside a Mareva injunction obtained by SRC International Sdn Bhd and one of its subsidiaries restraining the former prime minister from transferring or dissipating any of his assets amounting to RM42mil.

A three-member panel of judges, comprising Justices Tan Sri Nallini Pathmanathan, Datuk Nordin Hassan and Datuk Abu Bakar Jais, dismissed Najib’s application and ordered him to pay RM30,000 in legal costs to SRC International and Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd.

Justice Nallini, who delivered the court decision on Thursday (Oct 5), said the case law relied on by the Malaysian courts over the past 40 years was clear with regard to the test to be considered by a High Court judge before granting a Mareva injunction.

She said there was no necessity for the Federal Court to revisit the test laid down for ”real risk of dissipation” which had been satisfactorily set out in the case law S & F International Ltd and Trans-Con Engineering Sdn Bhd.

In civil cases, litigants are required to obtain leave before they can proceed with appeals to the Federal Court.

Following Najib’s failure to obtain leave to appeal, the Mareva injunction granted by the High Court to the two companies stands.

On March 24 last year, the High Court granted the Mareva injunction to SRC International and Gandingan Mentari and directed Najib not to remove, dispose of, deal with or diminish the value of any of their assets in and outside of Malaysia up to the value of RM42 million, pending the final determination of the lawsuit filed against him.

Besides that, the former Pekan Member of Parliament is only entitled to withdraw up to RM100,000 per month for his living expenses and for payment of legal fees.

The Court of Appeal dismissed Najib’s appeal on Dec 6 last year. This prompted him to file the application for leave to appeal.

A Mareva injunction is a temporary order which restrains the defendant from disposing of assets until the determination of the case between the plaintiff and the defendant.

SRC International and Gandingan Mentari filed the lawsuit against Najib in 2021, claiming that he had committed a breach of trust, misused his power, benefited personally from the SRC International funds and misappropriated the funds. The suit is pending in the High Court in Kuala Lumpur.

Najib, 70, is serving a 12-year imprisonment after the Federal Court, in August last year, upheld his conviction and jail sentence and RM210 million fine for misappropriating RM42mil in SRC International funds.

In the proceedings conducted online today, Najib was represented by lawyers Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and Mohammad Arfan Wan Othman, while lawyers Lim Chee Wee and P. Gananathan represented the companies.- Bernama