KUALA LUMPUR (April 17): Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah is asking the government for the reasons why they were concealing the addendum order made by the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, with regard to his client’s purported house arrest.

Shafee, speaking to reporters after the former prime minister’s judicial review application over the house arrest issue, said the matter is not as straightforward as it seems.

“An issue like this has not come up before, where an order from the Agong was not shown to Najib and enforced on. One cannot dispute the Agong’s order.

“This is the first case [of an order from the Agong] not being enforced. Why did they (the government) conceal the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's order, when you [were] authorised to expose it? They should expose and enforce it,” Shafee added.

He confirmed that the addendum to the Jan 29 order by the then Agong exists, but when asked whether the critical witness who affirmed the affidavit had done so, Shafee merely said "yes", but advised the media not to report it.

He said the person who affirmed the affidavit had seen the addendum.

Shafee explained that the court had barred the public from accessing the document.

“We got an affidavit. I cannot name to you who has confirmed that he saw the addendum. I cannot name as to who confirmed seeing the order,” he added.

Explaining further, Shafee said if the media want to print the affidavit, they would have to take the risk.

“The court gave the order. It is sealed. If you get it leaked, you take the risk. The order is that it cannot be used,” the senior lawyer added.

Earlier, the court allowed Najib’s application to bar the media from reporting Wednesday’s judicial review proceedings.

Shafee added that prior to filing the judicial review application, his firm had written to the respondents — the home minister, the federal territories minister, the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department for law and institutional reform, the commissioner general of the Prisons Department, and the government.

“I asked them the question — does the addendum exist, and why not enforce it? They did not reply.

“So what happened to those [who] concealed [it]? [They are] certainly committing serious wrong. You cannot conceal. This was the Agong's order. You have to obey. Following that, we filed this judicial review,” Shafee said.

He revealed that High Court judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh had fixed June 5 for a decision on whether to grant leave (permission) to allow the merits of the judicial review to be heard.

The respondents represented by senior federal counsels Shamsul Bolhassan and Ahmad Hanir Hambaly @ Arwi, meanwhile, had objected to Najib’s application.

Shamsul said this is a frivolous and vexatious application by the former prime minister.

“Furthermore, there is no arguable case, and the application is speculative in nature.

He further added that the pardon, which is the subject matter of the application, is considered non-justiciable to a judicial review,” he added.

Shamsul also said that in the present case, there is no express provision under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution or any written law which imposes the legal duty on the part of the respondents to confirm the existence or produce the addendum order allegedly pronounced by the Agong or the main order.

“Since there is no legal duty on the part of the respondents to confirm or produce any addendum order produced by the Agong to Najib, there is no omission which can attract the granting of a mandamus. Hence, the application framed by Najib is clearly frivolous and vexatious,” he said.

Shamsul further said that in this case, Najib’s application is akin to an attempt to a discovery application and a fishing expedition.

“Najib is trying to find evidence to prop up his case that he is entitled to house arrest due to an alleged reduction of the sentence contained in the purported addendum order. In other words, the application is clearly a fishing expedition to find evidence in favour of Najib.

“Since the application amounts to a fishing expedition, the discovery of documents should be refused by this court. Najib merely averred he obtained credible evidence to substantiate the addendum order, which does not exists,” he claimed.

Besides seeking to be placed under house arrest, Najib as stated is also seeking a reproduction of the addendum document to support his contention that the former prime minister be placed under house arrest and the enforcement of the order.

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