KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Bar has filed a legal challenge to Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s house arrest arrangement, arguing that it is unconstitutional and has no basis in law.
The legal body has applied to the High Court for leave to quash the Federal Territories Pardons Board’s proceedings and decisions relating to the arrangement granted on Sept 18.
It is also seeking a stay of its implementation, pending the disposal of the judicial review, if leave is granted.
The application names the Federal Territories Pardons Board, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform), the Prisons Commissioner-General and Najib as respondents.
In an affidavit filed yesterday, Bar secretary Jayabalan Raman Kutty said the application concerned important principles of constitutional and fundamental rights.
In its accompanying statement, the Bar argued that house arrest did not fall within the meaning of a pardon, reprieve or respite under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution.
“The intended ‘House Arrest’ for Najib does not fall within the meaning of a pardon, a reprieve, or a respite; conditional or otherwise.
“It is not permitted by the Constitution. It is ultra vires the Constitution,” it said.
The Bar argued that house arrest was not provided for under Malaysian criminal law and that the arrangement appeared to have been specifically tailored for Najib.
It claimed that this contravened Article 8 of the Federal Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law.
The legal body also questioned whether the Pardons Board had exhausted its authority over the matter after granting Najib a partial pardon in January 2024.
The decision reduced his SRC International prison sentence from 12 years to six and his fine from RM210 million to RM50 million.
The Bar argued that allowing house arrest on top of the earlier reduction was improper and disproportionate to the seriousness of his crimes and their continuing consequences for the country.
It also claimed that the board had failed to adequately consider relevant factors, including Najib’s other conviction and prison sentence, the financial burden of his crimes and their impact on public confidence in anti-corruption efforts.
The Bar further alleged that his application lacked any acceptance of guilt, contrition or remorse and instead challenged the outcome of the judicial process.
Among the orders sought are declarations that the house arrest arrangement, along with measures taken by the minister and Prisons Commissioner-General to facilitate it, are unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void.
The Bar also wants Najib barred from submitting further pardon applications until all his pending criminal cases have been finally disposed of and he publicly accepts responsibility and expresses remorse.
It is seeking a corresponding order preventing the board from considering such applications until those conditions are met.
Najib began serving his SRC International sentence on Aug 23, 2022, after exhausting his appeals.
Yesterday, the High Court ordered him to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest until Aug 23, 2028, following a conditional pardon and full payment of his RM50 million fine.