August hearing for Najib's contempt proceedings against ex-AG
KUALA LUMPUR : The High Court has set Aug 19 to hear Najib Razak's application to cite former attorney-general (AG) Ahmad Terrirudin Salleh for contempt of court.
The former prime minister wants the court to hold Terrirudin in contempt for his alleged failure to reveal the existence of a royal decree, made by the previous Yang di-Pertuan Agong at the end of his tenure, placing Najib under house arrest.
Justice K Muniandy said the present application, filed on May 21, was not caught by an earlier ruling halting all proceedings in the case pending the disposal of the current AG's appeal to the Federal Court.
Justice Hayatul Akmal Aziz, who previously presided over the case, issued the order on April 28.
'The judge (Hayatul) has qualified herself to say that she is leaving it to the discretion of the succeeding judge.
'This court is bound by the earlier order which reflects the intention of the parties and the order.
'Therefore, the earlier order prevails, but it does not include the present contempt application,' he said.
Muniandy took over the matter from Hayatul, who was elevated to the Court of Appeal on May 20.
During submissions earlier this morning, senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan called for the court not to fix the application for hearing, arguing that it was caught by Hayatul's stay order.
In reply, senior lawyer Shafee Abdullah contended that contempt proceedings were independent of the suit, and therefore not subjected to the order.
'So, a contempt application is definitely in a class of its own and it cannot be included within the so-called stay ordered by the court,' he said.
On July 28, 2020, the High Court convicted Najib of seven charges and sentenced him to 12 years in prison and a fine of RM210 million. His subsequent appeals to the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court were dismissed.
On Feb 2 last year, the Federal Territories Pardons Board announced that former king Al-Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah had halved Najib's prison sentence to six years, and reduced his fine to RM50 million.
However, it made no mention of any decree allowing Najib to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.
On Jan 6, Najib obtained leave from the Court of Appeal to begin judicial review proceedings to enforce the former king's decree.
Najib is currently serving his reduced jail term at Kajang prison.
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