KUALA LUMPUR: Solicitor-General Datuk Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh has been appointed as the new Attorney-General, effective Sept 6.
He replaces Tan Sri Idrus Harun.
A law graduate from Universiti Malaya, Terrirudin joined the judicial and legal service in 1995 where he had served several postings such as senior assistant registrar of the High Court of Malaya, magistrate in Sibu, sessions court judge in Kuala Lumpur, and special officer to the chief justice of the Federal Court.
He then assumed the position of the Federal Court chief registrar on May 3, 2019.
Prior to his appointment as the A-G, he was appointed as the Solicitor-General on March 25, 2022.
Earlier today, the Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali in a statement said that Terrirudin would replace Tan Sri Idrus Harun whose contract would end on Sept 5.
"In accordance with Clause (1) of Article 145 of the Federal Constitution, His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong also approved the appointment of Ahmad Terrirudin as the new Attorney-General."
His predecessor, Idrus was appointed as the A-G for a two-year term under the administration of the then prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
His tenure was then extended for another year under the administration of Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
His contract as the A-G was again extended for another six months from March 6 this year under Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's administration.
Idrus' retirement came on the heels of issues relating to court cases of high profile politicians and document leaks.
Among them are the issues of the decision to drop Datuk Raja Rozela Raja Toran as the lead prosecutor in Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's corruption case, where Idrus had defended the decision, saying that it was done to ensure continuity.
The senior prosecutor had been the lead deputy public prosecutor (DPP) in the case where the Deputy Prime Minister is accused of misappropriating RM31 million from the charity foundation Yayasan Akal Budi (YAB).
There was also the issue of a leaked memorandum relating to the grounds of the Attorney-General's Chambers' (A-GC) decision on former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's final appeal against his conviction in the SRC International corruption case.
The alleged 12-page memo which was circulated online, stated that an evaluation found on the available evidence in the case involving Najib and former Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Irwan Serigar Abdullah was deemed to be "grossly insufficient" to prove a prima facie case for the six charges.
The memo was purportedly sent by the lead prosecutor in the case, Datuk Jamil Aripin, to Tan Sri Tommy Thomas, who was the attorney-general at the time.