KUALA LUMPUR: The public has been excluded from hearing Datuk Seri Najib Razak's judicial review application to serve his remaining jail sentence under house arrest.
This comes after the former prime minister's defence team applied for the public to be excluded due to "several sensitive materials" in the case.
Najib's lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah made the application at the onset of the proceeding before High Court Judge Datuk Amerjeet Singh this morning.
The "sensitive materials" are related to Najib's claim that the former Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah allowed him to serve his remaining jail sentence under house arrest via an addendum order.
Shafee said Senior Federal Counsels Shamsul Bolhassan and Ahmad Hanir Hambaly did not object to his request for the matters to be heard in chambers.
The court allowed the matter to be held in chambers after Shafee informed the court that a "crucial witness" filed a supporting affidavit to bolster Najib's application.
At press time, both parties are submitting a gag order application by Shafee to prevent the media from publishing the supporting affidavit from the "crucial witness".
The former Pekan member of parliament filed the application to compel the government to produce the impugned document, the contents of which Najib says have not been revealed by the government.
He named the Home Minister, Prison Department commissioner general, Attorney-General (AG), Federal Territories Pardons Board, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform), Legal Affairs Division director-general, and the government as respondents. Najib in his Jan 29 affidavit, said former Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah ordered for his jail term to be reduced to six years and his fine for the SRC International case to be reduced to RM50 million (main order).
"The King also immediately or simultaneously issued an addendum order on the same day stipulating that Najib be allowed to serve the reduced sentence of his imprisonment under home arrest instead of confinement in Kajang Prison.
"The addendum order curiously was not announced by any of the respondents when the announcement of the main order was made.
"It must be impressed that the addendum order was already in existence since Jan 29, but this anomaly was never revealed nor explained by any of the respondents," he claimed.
Najib said he later instructed his solicitors to confirm the details of the addendum order with the AG by way of a letter dated Feb 14.
The letter was copied to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as well as his deputy Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The existence of the addendum order and its non-enforcement was escalated to the Home Minister on March 22.
Najib has claimed that his lawyers have requested an original copy or a copy of the order from the Kajang Prison but has not received a response.
He also claimed the subsequent inaction by the Home Minister and Prison Department commissioner general to execute the said order, is irrational, unreasonable, illegal, and arbitrary and offends the Federal Constitution and laws.
Najib is currently serving a 12-year jail term after he was found guilty of abuse of power and criminal breach of trust involving RM42 million from SRC International, a former 1MDB subsidiary.
He was also fined RM210 million.