Court grants Najib’s bid to submit two more affidavits in judicial review over house arrest

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here has allowed an application by Datuk Seri Najib Razak to submit two additional affidavits in his application to commence judicial review over an alleged royal addendum order, which would allow him to serve his remaining prison term under house arrest.

Justice Amarjeet Singh also fixed July 3 to deliver his decision in Najib’s application for judicial review.

Senior Federal Counsel Shamsul Bolhassan, who represented the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC), confirmed that the court fixed a new date for decision following the insertion of the two additional affidavits.

The two affidavits were one affirmed by Pahang Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail and another affidavit on a speech by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) 25th Convention at Pusat Konvensyen Ideal (IDCC) in Shah Alam, last April.

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SFC Shamsul said the AGC made an objection on the two affidavits to be submitted as they were filed out of time.

Today was initially fixed for decision on the main application.

“However, the application (to insert the affidavits) has been allowed by the court,” he said when met by the press after the in-chambers proceedings ended.

Meanwhile, Najib’s lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah confirmed that the affidavits have been accepted by the court.

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Najib filed the application for leave for judicial review on April 1.

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.

In the notice of application, 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.

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On May 21, Wan Rosdy affirmed a five-page affidavit in which he claimed that he was told about the royal addendum order by Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz late afternoon on Jan 30.

On the evening of the same day, Wan Rosdy said he attended a meeting at the residence of Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in Country Heights, Kajang, whereby Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani, Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan and Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said were also in attendance, among others.

Wan Rosdy, who is an Umno vice-president, however, said that he did not have a copy of the addendum order on grounds of secrecy considering that the addendum had not taken effect.