KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court was told that a crucial witness will be filing an affidavit in support of Datuk Seri Najib Razak's application for leave to initiate judicial review relating to an addendum order he claimed to have come from the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong which would allow him to serve the remainder of his imprisonment under house arrest.
Najib's lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah informed Justice Amarjeet Singh of this during the hearing for the leave application here on Thursday (April 4).
Muhammad Shafee said that the witness is currently in Mecca for the final 10 days of Ramadan.
"In view of my application today, I'm seeking for a very short adjournment because unfortunately, one person, who is the most critical (witness) to the application has not signed the affidavit because the person has left for Mecca and expected to be back after Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
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"This affidavit is critical, even at this stage. I just require a very short date, perhaps to April 17, a date I have consulted with my learned friend," the lawyer said.
Senior Federal Counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly who appeared for the respondents did not object.
Justice Amarjeet then allowed the adjournment to April 17 and ordered for written submissions to be filed by April 15.
At the same proceedings, Justice Amarjeet dismissed an application by lawyer Abhilaash Subramaniam who appeared for the Bar Council.
Abhilaash had applied to appear as watching brief for the Bar on grounds that it was still an ex-parte application thus far as leave had not been granted yet.
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When met by the press later, Muhammad Shafee did not disclose the identity of the said crucial witness.
Najib filed the application for leave for judicial review through law firm Messrs Shafee & Co on April 1.
He claimed that there was an addendum order by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in the royal pardon granted to him on Jan 29, whereby in the addendum, he was allowed to serve his prison sentence under house arrest.
He named the Home Minister, the Commissioner General of Prisons, the Attorney General, the Federal Territories Pardons Board, the Minister at the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform), director-general of the legal affairs at the Prime Minister's Department and the government as the first until the seventh respondents respectively.
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In the notice of application, which was downloaded through the court's e-filing system, Najib sought a mandamus order that all of the respondents or one of them to answer and verify the existence of the addendum order dated Jan 29.
Najib is seeking a mandamus order where if the addendum order exists, all or one of the respondents must execute the royal order and immediately move him from the Kajang Prison to his residence in Kuala Lumpur where he would serve his remaining sentence under house arrest.
The former Pekan MP is also seeking a mandamus order for all or one of the respondents to give a copy of the royal decree by the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the reduction of his prison sentence and fine and the addendum order, both dated Jan 29.
Najib also seeks costs and other reliefs deemed fit by the court.
