Najib’s legal bid over 'house-arrest' addendum stays alive as apex court rules matter must be heard in full at High Court

Monday 05 Oct 2026

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PUTRAJAYA (Aug 13): Imprisoned former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's legal bid over a 'royal addendum' allowing him to serve the remainder of his jail sentence under house arrest remains alive and will have to be fully heard at the High Court.

This comes after a unanimous judgement by a three-member apex court panel to send Najib's legal bid back to the High Court for its merits to be heard and ventilated.

Federal Court judge Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof, in reading the judgement on behalf of the panel, said that at this juncture, the addendum order exists and it is not for the Federal Court bench to determine its validity.

The validity of the royal addendum order, however, is a matter to be fully ventilated and determined at the High Court.

"In this regard we are not attempting to vary or confirm the order of [the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong] or the Pardons Board, which was dated Jan 29, 2024,” Zabariah said.

"But as of now, the addendum order exists and its status vis-a-vis its validity or whether it is true needs to be ascertained in a substantive hearing, which we do not consider it right or fair for us to express any view on this point at this stage.

"It is a point of further investigation on a whole interparty basis with all such evidence as is necessary on the facts and all such arguments as is necessary on the law.

"We allow the addendum order to be admitted as new evidence, and leave (permission) is granted to the respondent to pursue a judicial review at the High Court," she said, reading the decision which was over an hour long.

Wednesday's decision simply means that Najib's contention over the royal addendum will now be heard in full before another judge at the High Court. Najib, 72, remains in prison for the time being.

The bench, which was led by Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Hasnah Mohammed Hashim, also consisted of Federal Court judge Datuk Hanipah Farikullah.

Senior lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah (centre) who represents Najib.

The panel noted that in the course of hearings, the Attorney General's Chambers had made concessions that the addendum did exist.

Despite that, the panel was of the view that it was premature to make any decisions on whether the royal addendum is a part of the pardon's order or not.

The bench also said that Najib had made all efforts to ascertain the existence of the royal addendum with various parties since he learnt of it in February 2024. These were contributing factors for the matter to be fully ventilated at the High Court.

The court then directed the matter to go for case management on Aug 18 before a new High Court judge.

Wednesday's decision essentially dismissed Attorney General Tan Sri Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar's appeal against the appellate court’s judgement, which in a 2-1 majority decision had sent the matter back to the High Court for its merits to be heard.

In its decision in January this year, the majority ruled that further evidence adduced during the appeal proceedings showed the existence of the addendum, and High Court should hear the matter as, among others, Najib's rights had been aggrieved.

This is the culmination of the court saga which began in April last year, where Najib is seeking a court order to enforce the royal addendum.

The ex-PM is currently in Kajang Prison serving his jail sentence meted out in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case. He was initially sentenced to 12 years in jail and fined RM210 million, which he began serving on Aug 23, 2022.

However, the Pardons Board reduced his sentence to six years and the fine to RM50 million in an order dated Jan 29, 2024.

The royal addendum is an addition to this order, reportedly saying that Najib can serve that remainder of this sentence under house arrest. The royal addendum is allegedly also dated Jan 29, 2024.

Edited ByAniza Damis

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