TAN Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah today claimed the former attorney-general mislead the court despite being directly aware of the existence of the addendum allowing Datuk Seri Najib Razak to serve his remaining jail sentence under house arrest.
Najib's lead counsel said Tan Sri Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh had personal knowledge of the royal order, having been served with it during his tenure as attorney-general from September 2023 to November 2024.
"He was aware of the decree and tried to block it. The duty of candour applies more stringently to Terrirudin compared with others.
“This includes due diligence, to see what documents are available. The courts trust public officers to make full disclosure. But the reverse has happened here,” he said.
Shafee said the current AG, Tan Sri Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar, had acknowledged the existence of the addendum decree during the judicial review appeal proceedings at the Federal Court recently.
He said this when submitting in the former prime minister’s application for leave to initiate contempt proceedings against Terrirudin today.
Meanwhile, senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan argued that the application for leave for judicial review was baseless and an abuse of the court process.
He said Shafee's submission that the AG owed a duty of candour at the leave stage of the judicial review was "entirely inaccurate".
Shamsul also argued that the 13-month delay in filing the application was unjustified, rendering Najib’s move untenable.
High Court judge Alice Loke Yee Ching set Sept 4 to deliver her decision on the application. – August 19, 2025
