Najib fails to recuse judge, court to hear house arrest bid on Nov 24

 

The High Court has dismissed former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s attempt to recuse judge Alice Loke Yee Ching from presiding over his judicial review application involving his house arrest bid.

The recusal application was made orally by his lawyer, Shafee Abdullah, at the start of today’s proceeding, where the court was to hear his application to amend his claims in the suit.

Shafee, upon his client’s instruction, submitted that the judge’s decision on Sept 4, which refused Najib permission to cite former attorney-general Ahmad Terrirudin Salleh for contempt, was a pre-determination on one of the cornerstones of their substantive case.

“Yang Arif has touched on the aspect of duty of candour (at the contempt application leave stage) and has made a ruling that it does not apply at this stage.

“We are saying it does apply, even from there (and) I have been instructed to invite you to consider recusing yourself.

“(And) in order to avoid wasting time, whatever your decision is, we will not appeal (against it) at this stage, and (will) take it up, if required, in the finality of the decision, of the substantive matter,” he said.

Lawyer Shafee Abdullah

Senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan replied that Najib’s application is premature at this stage and that he ought to file a formal one instead.

The judge then said that her decision regarding the duty of candour matter should be strictly taken in the contempt application context.

“I consider the invitation to me to recuse myself. When I decided that the duty of candour does not arise, it was in the context of the leave application (in the contempt proceeding).

“Now that the leave is not granted, I think we are over that stage already.

“The issue of my findings possibly causing me to be biased should not arise (as) we are now at a substantive stage (and) therefore, I am afraid, I have to decline this invitation.”

Loke, on Sept 4, dismissed Najib’s leave application to cite Terrirudin for contempt, outlining three reasons including finding Najib’s contention to cite Terrirudin was based on mere speculation with no clear evidence and that the former AG has no duty of candour to prove the existence of the royal addendum order that allegedly allows Najib to serve the remainder of his jail time on house arrest.

The court then continued hearing Najib’s interlocutory application to amend his judicial review application, where he intended to include the case chronology from when it was first declined last year, to when the Federal Court allowed leave and remitted the case to be heard before Loke.

Shamsul then submitted, in reply, that the amendment is unnecessary as the court is already at the case’s substantive matter.

The judge then said she will deliver her decision on Sept 19, along with hearing the respondents’ application for a gag order, and fixed Nov 24 to hear the substantive matter.

Najib’s bid

The former Pekan MP filed a judicial review on April 1 last year, seeking the court’s mandamus order to compel the government and six others to confirm the royal addendum order’s existence.

He named the AG, Home Ministry, commissioner-general of the Prison Department, Federal Territories Pardons Board, Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform), and its Legal Affairs division director-general as the respondents in his application.

On July 3, 2024, the High Court denied his bid for judicial review, which led to his appeal. However, the appellate court overturned the decision on Jan 6 this year.

The Federal Court upheld the decision when it dismissed the attorney-general’s appeal against the lower court’s verdict (). - Mkini