PUTRAJAYA (Dec 4): A three-member Court of Appeal (COA) bench on Wednesday has allowed Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s application to be present in the appellate court on Thursday (Dec 5) for his leave to appeal over the purported royal addendum matter.

Judge Datuk Seri Mariana Yahya allowed Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah’s application for Najib to be present in the proceedings.

Mariana sat with COA judges Datuk Hashim Hamzah and Datuk Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin.

Shafee said Najib wanted to be present at the appeal after not being able to do so at the High Court.

The scheduled appeal hearing is at 2pm on Thursday. Najib is currently testifying in his defence in the ongoing 1MDB-Tanore case, including on Thursday, but it is expected that the trial will be adjourned early on Thursday to allow Najib to head to Putrajaya for the COA appeal hearing.

On July 3 this year, High Court judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh Serjit Singh dismissed Najib’s application for leave (permission) to compel the Home Minister, Federal Territory Pardons Board, and the Government to produce the addendum, that purportedly would allow the former prime minister to serve the remainder of his SRC International Sdn Bhd jail sentence under house arrest.

Amarjeet said the court could not make a decision based on hearsay evidence, and hence, Najib’s judicial review failed to pass the threshold for the court to grant leave, or to grant the mandamus order sought by Najib to compel the authorities to comply with his demand to produce the purported addendum.

In judicial review applications, leave or permission has to be gained from the court first, before the merits or substantive matter of an application can be heard, to ensure that the application is not frivolous or vexatious, or an abuse of the court process.

Amarjeet in his decision said that it was trite that the affidavits affirmed must contain facts that had been verified, and he said the two affidavits filed by Najib contained bare statements without mentioning the source.

He noted that Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail, in their affirmed affidavits, had said that the source of the information on the existence of the addendum order was Investment, Trade, and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.

“The averments by Ahmad Zahid and Wan Rosdy are hearsay, as the source of their information was Tengku Zafrul. The crucial question is whether hearsay can be referred to [in] an affidavit verifying the facts. I have no doubt that the....affidavits filed by Najib, Ahmad Zahid, and Wan Rosdy concerning the addendum are hearsay,” the judge ruled.

Najib was sentenced to 12 years’ jail and RM250 million fine, after being found guilty in relation to the SRC International case. He has been serving his sentence since Aug 23, 2022.

The sentence was reduced to six years’ jail and a RM50 million fine, following a pardon granted to him on Jan 29 this year.

However, Najib claims that there is an addendum to the pardon order, which he wants the authorities to produce, claiming that he could serve the sentence under house arrest.

Read also:
COA fixes Dec 5 to hear Najib’s appeal over purported addendum on house arrest
High Court tosses out Najib’s bid to serve sentence under house arrest