Najib fails in bid to recuse judge in royal addendum judicial review

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak has failed in his bid to recuse High Court judge Justice Alice Loke Yee Ching from presiding over his judicial review relating to the royal addendum order that he claimed would allow him to go under house arrest.

Lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah made an oral application for the judge to recuse herself, arguing that her earlier remarks in the decision for Najib’s leave application to initiate contempt proceedings against former attorney general Tan Sri Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh gave rise to a possible perception of bias.

He said his client, Najib, had instructed him to raise the matter to avoid later complications in the proceedings.

“The duty of candour, especially at the leave stage, is one of the cornerstones of judicial review.

“After carefully studying the notes of evidence, we believe this issue gives rise to a recusal. We are of the view that Yang Arif should consider recusing yourself.

Justice Loke, however, dismissed the application. She said her earlier decision in Najib’s application for leave to initiate contempt proceedings against Ahmad Terrirudin was made strictly within the context of the leave application and did not go beyond the substantive hearing which would take place soon.

“I’ve considered the invitation. When I decided on the duty of candour, it was in the context of leave application for committal.

“My findings must be seen in this context,” she said.

The court then fixed Nov 24 for the substantive hearing of Najib’s judicial review on the addendum order.

On Sept 4, Justice Loke dismissed Najib’s application for leave to cite Ahmad Terrirudin for contempt for allegedly concealing the existence of a royal addendum order that could have allowed Najib to be placed under house arrest.

The judge, in her decision, said Najib failed to prove prima facie in the case for contempt.

Najib contended that Ahmad Terrirudin had committed contempt of court when he directed his senior federal counsels to object to Najib’s application for leave to initiate judicial review linked to the addendum order.

Justice Loke said that Ahmad Terrirudin – who is now a Federal Court judge – merely embarked on a “filtering process” to his officers when the Attorney General’s Chambers made the objection.

On Aug 13, the Federal Court upheld a 2-1 majority decision by the Court of Appeal that instructed for Najib’s judicial review application on the addendum order be remitted back to the High Court for a full hearing.

He named the home minister, the Commissioner General of Prisons, the attorney-general, the Federal Territories Pardons Board, the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform), the director-general of the legal affairs at the Prime Minister’s Department and the government as the first until the seventh respondents respectively.

In the notice of application, Najib sought a mandamus order that all of the respondents or one of them answer and verify the existence of the addendum order dated Jan 29, 2024.