KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has set June 5 to decide on a leave application by Datuk Seri Najib Razak to challenge the existence of an addendum order, purportedly issued with the consent of the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong, allowing the former prime minister to serve the remaining six years of his prison sentence under house arrest.

       Lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, representing Najib, said Judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh also ordered the applicant to file additional written submissions if any, before the date.

       "There was an order from the judge to not allow members of the public, including journalists, to follow the proceedings because they were conducted in chambers," he told reporters when met after the proceedings.

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       When asked about the cause paper, which is an affidavit by a witness supporting Najib's application, Muhammad Shafee said it is not supposed to be accessible to the public.

       "The court has sealed it. If you want to print it, you take the risk because the court gave the order that it is sealed. If you got it in a leaked format, you are not authorised to leak it.

       "It is an in-camera kind of situation because it (the proceedings) is actually in chambers... the order has been made, don't take the risk. My advice is you can cleverly report," said Muhammad Shafee.

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       Najib, 70, filed the leave application for judicial review at the High Court here last April 1 through the legal firm of Messrs. Shafee & Co.

       He named the Home Minister, Commissioner-General of Prisons, Attorney General, the Pardons Board for the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya; Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform), director-general Legal Affairs Division at the Prime Minister's Department and the Malaysian Government as the first to the seventh respondents.

       The former Pekan MP is seeking a mandamus order to compel either all or one of the respondents to respond and confirm the existence of the additional decree dated Jan 29, 2024.

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       He is also seeking a mandamus order that if the additional decree exists, all or one of the respondents must enforce it immediately by transferring him from Kajang Prison to his residence in Kuala Lumpur for him to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest.

       Najib has been serving his sentence in Kajang Prison since Aug 23, 2022, after being convicted of embezzling RM42mil in funds belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd.

       On Sept 2, 2022, he filed a petition for a royal pardon. The Pardon Board reduced Najib's prison sentence from 12 years to six years, while the fine was reduced from RM210mil to RM50mil. – Bernama