The Court of Appeal is set to deliver its decision on Jan 7 on the Malaysian Bar’s bid to challenge the Federal Territories Pardons Board’s 2024 decision to halve former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s prison sentence and reduce his fine in the SRC International case.
The decision comes after Najib was granted a conditional pardon last week, allowing him to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest until Aug 23, 2028, subject to a RM50 million fine.
Malaysian Bar counsel Rajpal Singh Ghai said the Court of Appeal registry had informed the parties about the Jan 7 decision date around two weeks ago, before the latest conditional pardon was granted.
A three-member bench comprising Justices Lim Chong Fong, Azhahari Kamal Ramli and Leonard David Shim heard the Bar’s appeal on July 31 after the High Court previously refused leave for the judicial review.
The Bar is seeking to overturn the 2024 Pardons Board decision and obtain a declaration that it was unlawful, unconstitutional and void.
During the hearing, lawyer Yeo Yang Poh argued that the Pardons Board’s decision should be open to judicial scrutiny, stressing that accountability was a fundamental part of the justice system.
He said the Malaysian Bar had raised an arguable case that was neither frivolous nor vexatious and that the threshold for obtaining leave was low.
Former Malaysian Bar president Zainur Zakaria argued that a 1994 constitutional amendment had removed the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s absolute discretion in exercising certain constitutional functions. He referred to Article 40(1A), which requires the King to act in accordance with advice when exercising such functions.
However, senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly argued that the High Court was correct to reject the application, maintaining that the matter was non-justiciable.
He said the challenge involved the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s prerogative of mercy under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution, which he argued was not subject to judicial review.
Najib’s lawyer, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, adopted the government’s submissions, arguing that the final decision on a pardon rests with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, while members of the Pardons Board provide their views.
The Pardons Board reduced Najib’s original 12-year prison sentence to six years and his RM210 million fine to RM50 million in January 2024.
The Court of Appeal’s decision on Jan 7 will determine whether the Malaysian Bar can proceed with its substantive challenge to the 2024 decision.
