PUTRAJAYA (Aug 13): Imprisoned former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's team of lawyers has not dismissed the possibility of subpoenaing former attorney general Tan Sri Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh to get to the bottom of the "royal addendum" issue.
This comes on the heels of the apex court on Wednesday saying that the disputed document existed but its veracity can only be determined following a full hearing at the High Court.
Speaking to the press following Wednesday's apex court decision, senior lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said that now that the matter is going back to the High Court, Najib is at liberty to make discovery and interrogatory applications to demand answers on the "royal addendum".
"We can make requests for discovery, for immediate show of where the addendum is, and what happened to the addendum that has been delayed for a year and a half. We can [also] interrogate the other side to tell us what truly happened, why is the addendum not surfacing for such a long time," he said.
Shafee added that they could subpoena witnesses either physically or via affidavit.
"For example, we can call [Terrirudin] to find out if he had received [the document]," he said. It is Najib's claim that the addendum exists and it was addressed to the former attorney general.
Shafee also said that at this juncture, they will continue with their contempt application against Terrirudin, who is now an apex court judge.
The contempt application is based on Najib's claim that Terrirudin had knowledge of the addendum order but had ordered his officers to mislead the court.
Shafee added that Najib was "happy" with Wednesday's decision and had asked Shafee to expedite the matter.
Shafee was also asked about fresh pardon applications, to which he said "it was always at the back of [our] minds".
However, he added that as there is the ongoing addendum matter and an existing pardon, they don't want the matters to overlap.
The former prime minister is currently in Kajang Prison serving the 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, purportedly stating that Najib can serve the remainder of this sentence under house arrest. The royal addendum is allegedly also dated Jan 29, 2024.
Case management has been set for Aug 18.