KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 5): The Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) said on Wednesday it is asking the Federal Court to decide on a purported royal addendum concerning former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. 

A motion has been filed with the country’s apex court, the AGC said in a statement, seeking permission to appeal against a lower court's decision on Najib’s attempt for a judicial review. If Najib is successful in the case, he would be allowed to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest.

The filing of the motion is based on several important premises pertaining to the interpretation of the law and the difference in view between the High Court and the majority decision by the Court of Appeal, the AGC said.

“This matter results in the need to get certainty and finality in law from the Federal Court,” the AGC said. “The issue raised involves legal questions that are significant as well as having public interests that need to be determined by the highest court in the land.”

Leave, or permission, must be gained from the Federal Court before the merits of an appeal can be heard on novel issues of the law.

The AGC said the move to file the motion is important not only to ensure justice in this case but also to uphold the supremacy of the constitution and the law to explain its legal interpretation for the benefit of all parties.

In January, a three-member Court of Appeal bench, in a majority decision, had allowed Najib’s appeal for leave for the merits of the judicial review over the purported addendum to be heard. Leave must also be obtained for judicial review proceedings, to ensure that an application is not frivolous or vexatious.

Najib wants the court to order the government to produce an addendum that he claims was issued as part of the pardon granted to him by the then-Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, in February last year.

In addition, Najib wants the court to order the government to enforce the purported royal decree. He is currently serving an already reduced six-year jail term and RM50 million fine.

The Court of Appeal’s decision calls for the matter to be reverted to the High Court before a different judge, namely Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz.

Datuk Mohd Firuz Jaffril, one of the Court of Appeal judges in the majority along with Datuk Azhahari Kamal Ramli, noted that there was no rebuttal by the attorney general over the existence of the addendum.

Hence, the earlier ruling by the High Court on the addendum being hearsay could no longer stand, he said.

Najib had sought permission from the Sultan of Pahang to use the addendum in his affidavit for the purposes of the appeal, and without the consent, it was not possible for Najib to file the addendum in court, nor could Najib compel the Pahang Sultan to furnish the addendum, Firuz said.

“We are therefore of the view that Najib had complied with the principles propounded in Ladd vs Marshall,” where the evidence was not available then, reasonable due diligence was exercised, and it would influence the result of the case, Firuz said.

Since then, however, the AGC did not challenge the claim over the existence of addendum.

“The fact that there is no rebuttal affidavit from the respondent challenging the existence nor the authenticity of the addendum order is rather compelling,” Firuz said.

He also stressed that the authenticity of the addendum was not a concern, rather, “it is whether the addendum concerned exists or otherwise”.

Following case management before judge Hayatul Akmal, the AGC filed an application for a gag order barring the public from discussing the addendum issue except for court officials and the lawyers involved.

On Tuesday, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul ruled that discussions regarding the royal addendum related to Najib’s house arrest are prohibited in Parliament as the matter is currently pending in court.

Read also:
Dewan Rakyat Speaker bans debate on royal addendum in Najib's case
Govt files application for a gag and prohibitory order on purported addendum for Najib's house arrest
Najib's addendum appeal allowed via majority decision, case reverted to High Court