High Court judge Alice Loke Yee Ching decided that the former Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s add-on order for Najib’s house arrest is invalid and cannot be carried out. This is because the Yang di-Pertuan Agong did not follow the requirements under the Federal Constitution’s Article 42 when he made the addendum order (Titah Adendum) for Najib to be placed under house arrest.
“The addendum order was not deliberated nor decided in the 61st Pardons Board meeting (held on January 29, 2024). There was no compliance with Article 42, consequently it is not a valid order”, the judge said.
She explained that this means the Malaysian government have no duty to enforce the house arrest order.
Najib had sought the court verify that an addendum order granting him house arrest, reportedly issued by Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah during his last hours as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, is real. If it existed, then he wanted the order executed, releasing him from prison. Najib’s prison sentence – which was halved by the Pardons Board last year – is due to end on August 23, 2028. However, he might be eligible for early release on good behaviour in August 2026 after serving two-thirds of his sentence.
For context, Najib is currently serving a prison sentence after being convicted of misappropriating RM42 million belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former subsidiary of 1MDB.
Immediately after the decision, Najib’s lead defence lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told the High Court that his client would be appealing against the said decision.
That's not all. On Friday, December 26, in Putrajaya, Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah, now elevated to the Federal Court, is scheduled to deliver his verdict in Najib's 1MDB corruption trial, involving four counts of using his position to obtain RM2.28 billion in gratification from 1MDB’s funds and 21 counts of money laundering involving the same amount.
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