Back to prison: Wardens escorting Najib away after the verdict at the Kuala Lumpur High Court. — FAIHAN GHANI/The Star
PETALING JAYA: It is a pivotal week in court for Datuk Seri Najib Razak – as his bid for home arrest has been rejected, he is to face another important judgment this Friday – the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) case.
The decision for the case will be delivered after a trial that lasted for over six years.
But for now the former prime minister will continue serving his time in prison.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday dismissed Najib’s judicial review, an attempt to serve the remainder of his jail term in the RM42mil SRC International Sdn Bhd case under house arrest.
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The verdict on the 1MDB case will be delivered by Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah at the Palace of Justice as the trial judge has since been appointed as a Federal Court judge recently.
Senior lawyers weigh in on the several potential outcomes concerning the fate of the former premier.
Datuk Geethan Ram Vincent said Najib’s future will be shaped by the interaction of three parts –which is the conclusion of the 1MDB trial, the scope and limits of the existing SRC pardon, and the continued availability of royal pardon.
“On the SRC matter, the legal position is now relatively settled. Following the partial pardon, Najib is serving a reduced sentence, and today’s ruling makes clear that there is presently no legal pathway for the sentence to be served under house arrest.
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“Of course this is subject to appeal. In the absence of further clemency, he remains subject to the ordinary remission rules,” he said.
He said an acquittal in the 1MDB case would confine Najib’s conviction to SRC alone and factors such as sentence completion, remission, or further pardon would be at play.
“Conversely, a conviction would almost certainly result in a substantial custodial sentence, effectively resetting the clock and diminishing the practical impact of any relief granted in the SRC matter,” he said.
Lawyer Kitson Foong said the dismissal of the judicial review by the High Court will not be the end of the road as Najib’s team will likely file an appeal at the Court of Appeal.
“They could argue that the High Court erred in not recognising the addendum order.
“If the Court of Appeal reverses today’s decision which could take months, he could be transferred to house detention immediately, regardless of the 1MDB outcome unless the 1MDB judge explicitly denies bail or house arrest for that specific case,” he said.
He said although the release date is Aug 2028 with the reduced sentence after pardon for the SRC case, Najib could be released earlier with remission.
He said in the event where there is a sentencing in the 1MDB case, the question would be on whether the sentence would be concurrent or consecutive.
If the High Court Judge orders the new sentence to start after the SRC sentence ends, he said that would be the “worst-case” scenario, potentially adding years to Najib’s jail term.
Lawyer and former Malaysian Bar president Salim Bashir said the High Court’s decision yesterday has enumerated a number of obscure and novel Constitutional points which should be resolved by the Apex court on appeal.
“The High Court denied an application by Najib to serve the remainder of his jail sentence at home, saying that the order was not enforceable as it was not deliberated during the pardon board meeting in January 2024, and in which it has ordinarily defied the Constitutional requirement of Article 42 under the Federal Constitution,” he said.
“In all fairness, the backdrop of Najib’s case is distinct from a plethora of previous cases where the Apex courts have ruled that the power of pardon is purely a discretion exercise of prerogative of mercy by His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong or State Rulers, and the latest approach in Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim vs Mohd Khairul Azam too maintained that the King is not bound by advice and his discretion is not susceptible to judicial review.
“The striking difference of the earlier cases and Najib’s application hinged on the issue of a supplementary order issued by the King extraneous to deliberations made in the Board meeting,” he added.
Senior lawyer Datuk Baljit Singh Sidhu said the process of appeal on the house arrest could be decided at the Federal Court by the end of next year.
