Najib to proceed with bid to cite former AG for contempt

PUTRAJAYA: Datuk Seri Najib Razak is proceeding with his attempt to cite former attorney general Tan Sri Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh for contempt over claims that the latter concealed the existence of a royal addendum order that could have allowed him to be placed under house arrest.

His lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told the press that his client did not wish to withdraw the matter when met here on Friday (March 13).

“The case will go on, for sure. My client says there is no withdrawal on this contempt case because of how much money he has spent, how much time wasted… because it could have been avoided,” he said.

Najib’s appeal against the High Court’s dismissal of his contempt action on Ahmad Terrirudin, who is now a Federal Court judge, was initially fixed for hearing before a three-judge panel at the Court of Appeal here on Friday.

The appeal is against a Sept 4, 2025 decision by Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Justice Alice Loke Yee Ching, who dismissed Najib’s contempt application, saying that Najib had failed to prove prima facie in the case.

At the outset of the proceedings, Justice Lim Chong Fong, who chaired the panel, questioned whether Najib’s present appeal was linked to another case presided by Justice Loke.

The judge was referring to another decision by Justice Loke on Dec 22, where she dismissed Najib’s judicial review application relating to a royal addendum order that Najib claimed would allow him to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest.

Justice Lim posed the legal quandary on whether the present appeal should be heard before the disposal of the judicial review appeal on the addendum order or whether the two cases are one and the same.

Shafee replied that he believed the two matters were separate despite the decisions being delivered by the same judge (Justice Loke). He then sought time for his client to reflect on the issue and to take instructions on the matter.

Meanwhile, Senior Federal Counsel Shamsul Bolhassan, who represented the respondent, said that he would also need to take instructions from the Attorney General.

Justice Lim then fixed March 30 for case management to hear updates from both parties.

Other judges on the bench were Justices Dr Shahnaz Sulaiman and Nadzarin Wok Nordin.

On May 21, 2025, Najib applied for leave to cite Ahmad Terrirudin for contempt of court on claims that the former AG had misled the court and suppressed the copy of the addendum order that would purportedly allow him to serve the remainder of his prison time under house arrest.

The application for leave to cite Ahmad Terrirudin for contempt is linked to Najib’s application for leave to commence judicial review over the addendum order.