KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here has dismissed the Attorney General’s application for a gag order on public discourse of a purported royal addendum order that would allow Datuk Seri Najib Razak to serve the rest of his prison sentence under house arrest.
Justice Alice Loke Yee Ching, in her decision, said the applicant did not satisfy the threshold required for a gag order.
“I do not think that issuing a gag order would address the real and substantial risk to the fairness of the trial. I do not think there is a real risk to the fairness of the trial, if the gag order is not issued,” she said here on Friday (Sept 19).
According to the judge, a lot has been said in the public domain relating to the judicial review and there were adequate and alternative measures to address concerns the gag order sought to restrict.
“There are already defamation and contempt laws that can be taken and resorted to.
“On the whole, I don’t find a gag order necessary. The application is hereby dismissed,” she said.
The court also granted RM20,000 in costs to Najib, to be paid by the applicant.
Najib filed the application for leave for judicial review relating to the royal addendum on April 1, 2024.
He named the Home Minister, the Prisons Commissioner General, the Attorney General, the Federal Territories Pardons Board, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform), director-general of the legal affairs at the Prime Minister’s Department and the government as the first to seventh respondents, respectively.
In the notice of application, Najib sought a mandamus order that all of the respondents or one of them answer and verify the existence of the addendum order dated Jan 29, 2024.
Najib is seeking a mandamus order where, if the addendum order exists, all or one of the respondents must execute the royal order and immediately move him from Kajang Prison to his residence in Kuala Lumpur to serve his remaining sentence under house arrest.
On July 4, 2024, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed Najib’s application for leave, citing hearsay in supporting affidavits.
On Jan 6, Najib’s judicial review application linked to the addendum order was remitted to the High Court by the Court of Appeal for a hearing on its merits after he won his appeal in a 2-to-1 majority decision.
On Jan 20, the AGC applied for a gag order, citing that the case involved sensitive issues and there was a need for the gag order to protect the integrity of the case.
In its supporting affidavit, the AG cited several public forums, a podcast and a Spotify playlist that discussed Najib’s royal addendum bid.
It contended that the gag order was meant for all parties, including the respondents in the case, from discussing the subject matter inside or outside the court.
The substantive hearing on Najib’s judicial review on the royal addendum is fixed for Nov 24.
