Najib Fails To Recuse New Judge From Judical Review On Addendum

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 (Bernama) -- The High Court has dismissed Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's application to recuse Justice Alice Loke Yee Ching from presiding over his judicial review regarding the purported existence of an additional document allegedly authorising him to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest.

In dismissing the application, Justice Loke found the grounds for recusal, on the basis of apparent bias, to be unfounded.

"I have considered the application for me to recuse myself. When I decided that the duty of candour did not arise, it was in the context of a leave application for contempt proceedings against former Attorney-General Tan Sri Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh.

"At that stage, I was of the view that the duty of candour was not applicable. Accordingly, the issue of my earlier finding possibly causing me to be biased should not arise. I therefore decline the application for my recusal," she said.

On Sept 4, Justice Loke dismissed Najib’s application for leave to commence committal proceedings against Ahmad Terrirudin (now a Federal Court judge) for alleged contempt of court.

The judge ruled that the applicant had failed to establish a prima facie case for contempt.

Earlier, Najib’s counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, informed the court that his client had instructed him to seek the judge’s recusal, citing apparent bias following her ruling in the committal proceedings.

Senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan, representing the respondents, objected to the request, stating that it ought to have been brought by way of a formal application.

The High Court convened today to hear Najib’s application for leave to amend his judicial review pleadings to adduce additional evidence.

He is seeking to introduce a supporting affidavit from his son, Datuk Mohd Nizar, which exhibits a letter dated Jan 4, 2025, signed by the Pengelola Bijaya Di-Raja from the Office of the Sultan of Pahang, which purports to confirm the authenticity of a copy of the Addendum Order.

The Court subsequently fixed Sept 19 for the delivery of its ruling on the application to amend, and scheduled the substantive hearing of the judicial review application for Nov 24. 

On Aug 13, the Federal Court remitted the case to the High Court for a hearing on its merits before a new judge, after dismissing the Attorney General’s application for leave to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal regarding the said addendum.

Najib, 72, is seeking a mandamus order compelling the respondents to confirm and disclose the existence of the purported document dated Jan 29, 2024.

He named the Home Minister, Commissioner-General of Prisons, Attorney-General, Pardons Board for the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform), Director-General of the Legal Affairs Division in the Prime Minister’s Department, and the Government of Malaysia as respondents.

The former Pekan MP also sought an order that, if the additional document is proven to exist, all or any of the respondents be compelled to enforce it immediately and transfer him from Kajang Prison to his residence in Kuala Lumpur to serve the remainder of his sentence.

On July 3 last year, High Court Judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh dismissed Najib’s application for leave to commence judicial review proceedings, ruling that the four supporting affidavits submitted, including statements from UMNO president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and vice president Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail, constituted hearsay and were inadmissible as evidence.

Najib has been serving his sentence at Kajang Prison since Aug 23, 2022, following his conviction for misappropriating RM42 million from SRC International Sdn Bhd.

The High Court initially sentenced him to 12 years in prison and fined him RM210 million, a decision which was subsequently upheld by the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court. 

However, his petition for a royal pardon on Sept 2, 2022, resulted in the Pardons Board halving his prison sentence to six years and reducing his fine to RM50 million.

-- BERNAMA