Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar has questioned the care taken in preparing court documents relating to the implementation of Najib Razak’s house arrest order, pointing to what he described as “obvious” defects in the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s Order of Discharge.
In a Berita Harian report, Dusuki said the alleged defects concerned the former prime minister’s sentence in the SRC International corruption case.
He said such issues should not have arisen if those involved had carefully checked every detail.
“This should not have happened if the parties concerned had been thorough,” he said.
“The errors are obvious and have caused unnecessary problems.”
The alleged defects, which have raised questions among legal practitioners, reportedly involve the accuracy of the terminology and legal provisions used in the document.
Dispute over Najib’s house arrest order
The document was issued by the Kuala Lumpur High Court after the RM50 million fine imposed on Najib, a former Umno president, was paid through a solidarity fund launched by the party.
The payment paved the way for Najib to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest.
However, the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) subsequently sought to defer the implementation of the house arrest order pending a review of the conditional pardon and the Order of Discharge.
The AGC said the two matters involved “complex legal questions” with implications for the implementation of the royal pardon and the court order.
It stressed that its request was not an attempt to challenge the conditional pardon, but was intended to clarify the legal effect of the discharge order.
Istana Negara criticises AGC’s move
The AGC’s decision drew criticism from Istana Negara, which said arguments challenging Najib’s conditional pardon amounted to defying the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s decree.
Istana Negara maintained that the pardon order was clear, explicit and unambiguous, and had no bearing on any other cases involving Najib.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has said Dusuki requested an audience with the king to clarify the legal questions that led him to propose deferring Najib’s house arrest pending clarification by the court.
Dusuki declined to comment when asked by Berita Harian about the audience.
