Najib’s house arrest: Malaysian Bar entitled to challenge Pardons Board decision, says Azalina

Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is pictured at the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex on November 10, 2026. The Malaysian Bar has the right to challenge the Federal Territories Pardons Board’s decision allowing Najib to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa

First Published: Thursday, 12 Nov 2026 8:28 PM MYT

BANGI, Nov 12 — The Malaysian Bar has the right to challenge the Federal Territories Pardons Board’s decision allowing former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said the Bar is entitled to mount such a challenge if it believes it has grounds to question the decision.

“But I have always stressed that when we speak of matters under Article 42, it is considered what is referred to as the prerogative of mercy, which we know is among the powers fully vested in the discretion of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the power of pardon.

“So it is up to the Malaysian Bar as to what it wants to bring... If the Malaysian Bar feels it has the right to question any issue, that is its right,” she told reporters here today.

She said this after the certificate presentation ceremony for the Professional Mediation Certification Course and Mediator Appointment Certificates, as well as the launch of the Madani Mediation Centre Handbook, Legal Aid Department 2026.

The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) today objected to the Malaysian Bar’s bid to challenge the Federal Territories Pardons Board’s decision allowing former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to serve the remainder of his prison sentence in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case under house arrest.

Senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly@Arwi informed High Court Judge S. Indra Nehru today that the AGC had received the Bar’s application for leave to commence judicial review by email two days earlier and needed time to file written submissions.

Meanwhile, Najib’s lawyer Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee informed the court that his client also intended to file written submissions, as any decision by the court after leave is granted could affect him.

Lawyer Zainur Zakaria, representing the Malaysian Bar, did not object to the requests by the AGC and Najib’s lawyers for time to file their respective written submissions.

Judge Indra Nehru fixed March 17 next year to hear the application and directed both parties to file their respective written submissions by December 14, with replies to be filed on or before December 28.

On November 10, the Bar filed the judicial review application naming the Federal Territories Pardons Board, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform), the Director-General of Prisons and Najib as respondents. — Bernama