KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has fixed Jan 5, next year, for decision in Datuk Seri Najib Razak's judicial review on an addendum order that he claimed would allow him to serve his prison sentence under house arrest.
Justice Alice Loke fixed the date after hearing submissions from parties here on Monday (Nov 24).
"I think I should take the Christmas holidays to deliberate and mull over this," she said candidly at the end of the proceedings.
The court fixed 8am on Jan 5 to deliver the decision.
Earlier, Najib's lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and Senior Federal Counsel Shamsul Bolhassan made their submissions in the hearing.
On Aug 13, the Federal Court upheld a 2-1 majority decision by the Court of Appeal that instructed for Najib's judicial review application on the addendum order be remitted back to the High Court for a full hearing.
He named the home minister, the Commissioner-General of Prisons, the Attorney General, the Federal Territories Pardons Board, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform), the director-general of the legal affairs at the Prime Minister's Department and the government as the first until seventh respondents, respectively.
In the notice of 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 currently serving the sentence imposed on him after the High Court found him guilty of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering in relation to RM42mil that had been siphoned from SRC International, a former 1MBD subsidiary.
In February, last year, the Pardons Board reduced his initial 12-year jail sentence and RM210mil fine to six years and a RM50mil fine.
