00:00The Court of Appeal has, in a split decision, granted former Prime Minister Najib Razak
00:06leave to bring judicial review proceedings to compel the government to place him under
00:11house arrest.
00:13Justices Firuz Jafril and Asha Hari Kamal Ramli, who formed the majority, also sent
00:18the case back to the High Court to be heard on its merits.
00:21The court also allowed Najib to adduce an addendum order issued by former Yang di-Pertuan
00:26Agung al-Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah at the hearing after the Pahang Palace confirmed
00:31its authenticity in a letter dated January 4th.
00:35Firuz said the High Court's finding that Najib was relying on hearsay evidence could
00:39no longer stand in the light of the new evidence obtained from Istana Abu Bakar.
00:45He also said Najib's case was not frivolous or vexatious.
00:49Justice Aziza Nawawi dissented, saying there was no reason why the evidence could not have
00:53been secured before the case was heard in the High Court.
00:56Earlier, Najib's counsel Shafi Abdullah called on the court to draw an adverse inference
01:01against the government for its refusal to confirm the existence of the addendum order.
01:06He said the government was duty-bound to produce the order and that its silence was dishonest.
01:12In reply, senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan, who appeared for the government, said that
01:17the house arrest issue was not discussed at the Federal Territories Pardons Board meeting
01:21on January 29th last year and did not form part of the decision reached.
01:27Dhanush Rajareza, FMT News.
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