00:00The High Court in Kuala Lumpur has dismissed the Attorney General's bid
00:05for a gag order to restrict public discussion on a purported royal addendum order
00:10that could allow Datuk Sri Najib Razak to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.
00:16Justice Alice Luk Yiching, delivering her decision on Friday,
00:20ruled that the threshold for a gag order had not been met.
00:24She noted that the subject was already widely debated in the public domain
00:28and that other remedies were available to address the concerns raised.
00:33The Court also ordered the applicant to pay 20,000 ringgit in costs to Najib.
00:38Najib filed the application for leave for judicial review
00:41relating to the royal addendum on April 1, 2024.
00:46He named the Home Minister, the Prison's Commissioner-General,
00:49the Attorney-General, the Federal Territory's Pardons Board,
00:53the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Law and Institutional Reform,
00:57Director-General of the Legal Affairs at the Prime Minister's Department
01:01and the Government as the first to seventh respondents, respectively.
01:05In the notice of application, Najib sought a mandamus order
01:09that all of the respondents or one of them answer
01:12and verify the existence of the addendum order dated January 29, 2024.
01:18Najib is seeking a mandamus order where,
01:21if the addendum order exists,
01:24all or one of the respondents must execute the royal order
01:27and immediately move him from Kajang Prison to his Kuala Lumpur residence
01:31to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.
01:35Najib's earlier bid for leave was dismissed by the High Court on July 4, 2024,
01:41on grounds that his affidavits contained hearsay.
01:44However, on January 6 this year,
01:47the Court of Appeal remitted the case to the High Court
01:49for a full hearing after a two-to-one majority decision in Najib's favour.
01:55The Attorney-General's chambers, AGC,
01:58had sought the gag order on January 20,
02:01citing the sensitivity of the case
02:02and pointing to public forums, podcasts
02:05and even a Spotify playlist discussing Najib's house arrest bid.
02:09The AGC argued the order was necessary to protect the case's integrity
02:14and should apply to all parties inside and outside court.
02:18The substantive hearing of Najib's judicial review
02:21is scheduled for November 24.
Comments