Court Postpones Decision on Bar Council’s Appeal Challenging Najib’s Pardon
PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal today decided to postpone the decision on the Bar Council’s appeal to initiate judicial review to challenge the Pardons Board’s decision to reduce Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s prison sentence and fine in the SRC International Sdn. Bhd. case.
The decision was made by a three-judge panel chaired by Datuk Lim Chong Fong, who sat together with Datuk Azhahari Kamal Ramli and Datuk Leonard David Shim.
The panel set the decision to be delivered on another date, while case management has been fixed for 7 August.
Earlier, the court finished hearing arguments from representatives of the Bar Council, the Attorney General and Najib.
The Bar Council was represented by Zainur Zakaria and Datuk Yeo Yang Poh, while Senior Federal Counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly represented the Attorney General, and lawyer Tan Sri Dr. Muhammad Shafee Abdullah represented the former Prime Minister.
Meanwhile, the Bar Council is appealing for the judicial review proceedings to be returned to the High Court for trial.
Previously, Zainur and Yang Poh respectively argued that the decision of the Federal Territories Pardons Board of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya could be challenged in court.
Yang Poh explained that although the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA) has absolute power, His Majesty must obtain the advice of the Pardons Board.
He said the Pardons Board’s advice can be challenged in court, and the Bar Council is applying for the issues raised in the judicial review to be heard and decided through a trial.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Hanir argued that the appeal should be dismissed because the High Court has no jurisdiction to hear the matters raised in the judicial review, and that argument was adopted by Muhammad Shafee.
On 11 November 2024, Justice Datuk Ahmad Kamal Md. Shahid (now a Court of Appeal judge) dismissed the Bar Council’s application to initiate judicial review after being satisfied that the matter applied for could not be decided through the court.
He held that the advice of the Federal Territories Pardons Board is part of the process leading to the granting of pardon by the YDPA.
The court was satisfied that the power of pardon under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution is the absolute prerogative of the YDPA, not the Pardons Board or a power delegated to it.
On 26 April 2024, the Bar Council filed for leave for judicial review, naming the Federal Territories Pardons Board of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya, as well as Najib, as respondents.
Utusan Malaysia