Senior counsel Shafee Abdullah today argued that former attorney-general Terrirudin Salleh failed to disclose the royal addendum order concerning Najib Razak despite having a duty of candour.
Shafee told the High Court here that Terrirudin had committed contempt of court, claiming he had personal knowledge of the royal order, having been served with it during his tenure as attorney-general from September 2023 to November 2024.
“The respondent failed to disclose its existence at the material stages of litigation and knowingly misled the court through federal counsel when he had and continues to have the duty of candour to disclose the existence of the addendum order,” he said.
Najib’s lawyer added that the duty of candour applied more strictly to Terrirudin than to others.
He said this when submitting in the former prime minister’s application for leave to initiate contempt proceedings against Terrirudin today.
The duty of candour requires parties to disclose all relevant information and material facts, even those that may weaken their case.
Shafee said Terrirudin had misrepresented the matter by submitting, through his federal counsel, that Najib’s affidavits on the addendum were “speculative” and “a fishing expedition based largely on hearsay”.
Senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan argued that Najib had not met the threshold for leave to pursue contempt, and that the applicant had failed to establish a prima facie case.
“There was no evidence that the respondent committed the alleged contemptuous act,” he said.
He added that the former attorney-general was under no duty of candour at the leave stage of a judicial review, and therefore could not be faulted for not confirming or producing the addendum order.
Shamsul also argued that the 13-month delay in filing the application was unjustified, rendering Najib’s move untenable.
Justice Loke Yee Ching set Sept 4 to deliver her decision on the application.
On Aug 13, the Federal Court upheld the Court of Appeal’s majority decision directing the High Court to hear Najib’s judicial review application and allowed the former prime minister to adduce additional evidence on the supplementary addendum.
Yesterday, the High Court before the same judge set Sept 19 to hear Najib’s application to present the additional evidence in his judicial review, seeking the enforcement of the addendum allowing him to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.
Najib was convicted of misappropriating RM42 million in SRC International Sdn Bhd funds and has been serving his sentence at Kajang prison since Aug 23, 2022.
He filed a petition for a royal pardon on Sept 2, 2022.
The Federal Territories Pardons Board later halved his prison term from 12 years to six and reduced his fine from RM210 million to RM50 million.
