PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court will deliver its decision on April 28 regarding the Attorney General’s appeal against the Court of Appeal ruling on Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s purported royal addendum for house arrest.
A three-judge panel, chaired by Chief Judge of Malaya Justice Hasnah Mohammed Hashim, set the date after hearing submissions from parties here yesterday.
“We will not be making a decision today,” she said.
Other judges on the Bench were Federal Court Justices Zabariah Mohd Yusof and Hanipah Farikullah.
Earlier, AG Datuk Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar submitted seven questions of law that he said had met the threshold requirements for leave to be granted down under Section 96 (a) and (b) Courts of Judicature Act (CJA) 1964.
The questions include: whether the AG bears the legal responsibility to confirm the existence of and provide copies of disputed documents at the leave stage; whether there exists any legal obligation to compel any authority to confirm the existence of and provide copies of documents; and whether Najib may submit new or additional evidence that would have the legal effect of directly or indirectly challenging the decision of the Pardons Board at the leave stage of judicial review proceedings.
Mohd Dusuki also argued that the subject matter for Najib’s judicial review was non-justiciable (something that is not capable of being determined or resolved by a court of law).
“This is because the respondent, in effect, attempting to traverse beyond or behind the express words of the main order, a subject matter that is non-justiciable to review by this honourable court.
“The subject matter herein hinges on the ‘high prerogative exercisable’ by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. As such, the court has no jurisdiction to confirm or vary the decision made by the King in the pardon process,” he said.
Najib’s lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah argued they were not challenging the Pardons Board’s decision.
“We are, in fact, upholding the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s power in decreeing it (the addendum order). Many people think the Pardons Board made the decision (for house arrest).
“That is nothing further than the truth,” he said.
Earlier, the same court dismissed Najib’s preliminary objection against the AG’s application for leave to appeal in the matter, with no order as to costs.
Najib filed the application for leave for judicial review on April 1, 2024.
He named the Home Minister, the Commissioner General of Prisons, the AG, 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 to seventh respondents, respectively.
In the application, Najib sought a mandamus order that all of the respondents or one of them answer and verify the existence of the addendum order dated Jan 29, 2024.
Najib is also 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 Kajang Prison to his residence in Kuala Lumpur to serve his remaining sentence under house arrest.
On July 4, 2024, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed Najib’s application for leave, citing hearsay in the supporting affidavits.
On Jan 6, Najib won his appeal at the Court of Appeal for a leave to pursue the judicial review.
The High Court then fixed April 28 to hear the judicial review application.
