PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has set Jan 7 next year (2027) to deliver its decision on the appeal by the Malaysian Bar who is seeking leave to commence a judicial review to challenge the Federal Territories Pardons Board’s (FTPB) decision to reduce former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak’s prison sentence and fine in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case.
Lawyer Zainur Zakaria, representing the Malaysian Bar, confirmed the date when contacted by Bernama today (Sept 22).
On July 31, the Court of Appeal three-man bench comprising Datuk Lim Chong Fong, Datuk Azhahari Kamal Ramli and Datuk Leonard David Shim heard the appeal and reserved its decision.
The Malaysian Bar is appealing the Nov 2024 High Court’s dismissal of its application for leave to commence judicial review proceedings to quash the Pardons Board’s decision.
In the application filed in April 2024 against the Pardons Board of the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya, and Najib, the Bar had sought a declaration that the Pardons Board’s decision on Jan 29, 2024, reducing Najib’s prison sentence from 12 years to six years, resulting in his early release on Aug 23, 2028, is illegal, unconstitutional and void.
It is also seeking a declaration that the Pardons Board’s decision to reduce Najib’s fine from RM210 million to RM50 million is similarly illegal, unconstitutional and void.
Najib, 73, has been serving his sentence at Kajang Prison since Aug 23, 2022, after being convicted of misappropriating RM42 million from SRC International Sdn Bhd.
He filed a petition for a royal pardon on Sept 2, 2022, which resulted in the Pardons Board halving his prison sentence and reducing his fine from RM210 million to RM50 million.
On Sept 18 this year, Najib was granted a conditional royal pardon allowing him to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest, subject to his payment of the RM50 million fine.
Yesterday, Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar was reported as saying that Najib has yet to pay the fine stipulated as a condition for serving the remainder of his sentence under house arrest. — BERNAMA
