Najib Not Allowed To Cite Ex Ag For Contempt Over House Arrest

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The High Court has denied former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak from pursuing a contempt application against former attorney-general Ahmad Terrirudin Salleh for allegedly suppressing a copy of the royal addendum order.
Judge Alice Loke Yee Ching, in dismissing the bid, said Najib had failed to establish any prima facie to warrant a permission, and outlined three reasons backing her verdict.
These include finding that Najib’s contention to cite Terrirudin for contempt was based on mere speculation with no clear evidence.
In this application, Najib had previously contended that Terrirudin had allegedly suppressed the order and instructed federal counsels to object against his judicial review, where he sought the court’s order to compel the government and six others to confirm the order’s existence.
ADS“All that the Attorney-General’s Chamber (AGC) is required to do when served with the leave papers is to peruse them and address the court on whether there are grounds to refuse leave or otherwise.
“In this case, it is noted that the AG is a putative respondent in the judicial review proceedings (where) his role in a leave application and that of a respondent are distinct and different.
“One cannot infer a specific instruction to present untrue arguments solely from the position taken by the respondent’s officers in opposing the leave application (especially when) the consequences of contempt proceedings are serious and this court will be circumspect in acting on mere supposition,” she said.
Loke also said that Najib had relied on subsequent events to establish a prima facie to support his contempt claims against Terrirudin, and that even he was uncertain of the order’s existence when he filed the judicial review last year, justifying AGC's objection against the application.
She also said that Najib’s delay in filing his contempt application against the now Federal Court judge is fatal to his case, as the objection was raised when the application was filed last year, whereas Najib’s contempt application was only filed in May this year.
Former attorney-general Ahmad Terrirudin Salleh“The court has consistently held that contempt is a serious matter and should be pursued within a reasonable time,” said the judge.
She also awarded Terrirudin RM20,000 in costs, and fixed Sept 11 and 19 to hear Najib’s two other applications, which are to amend his claims in his substantive judicial review and the respondent’s gag order application.
Najib’s bid
The former Pekan MP filed a judicial review on April 1 last year, seeking the court’s mandamus order to compel the government and six others to confirm the royal addendum order’s existence.
He had named the AG, the Home Ministry, the commissioner-general of the Prison Department, the Federal Territories Pardons Board, the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) and its Legal Affairs division director-general as the respondents in his application.
On July 3, 2024, the High Court denied his bid for judicial review, which led to his appeal. However, the appellate court overturned the decision on Jan 6 this year.
The Federal Court upheld the decision when it dismissed the attorney-general’s appeal against the lower court’s verdict. - Mkini

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