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FORMER prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will not withdraw his application seeking leave to initiate committal proceedings for alleged contempt of court against former attorney-general Tan Sri Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh, his lawyer said today.
Najib’s counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, said his client had decided to proceed with the legal action as considerable time and financial resources had already been spent pursuing the case.
“This matter could actually have been avoided if from the beginning the respondent (Ahmad Terrirudin) had acknowledged the existence of the Addendum Order,” he told reporters after proceedings at the Court of Appeal today.
The application for leave to commence committal proceedings was filed by Najib in connection with Ahmad Terrirudin’s actions in a judicial review application involving the royal addendum order, which Najib claims allows him to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest.
Ahmad Terrirudin, who was attorney-general at the time the matter arose, has since been appointed a Federal Court judge.
Najib is appealing against a High Court decision on Sept 4 last year that dismissed his application for leave to begin committal proceedings.
High Court judge Alice Loke Yee Ching rejected the request after ruling that Najib had failed to establish a prima facie case for the leave application.
The appeal was heard today before a three-member Court of Appeal panel led by Datuk Lim Chong Fong, sitting with Datuk Dr Shahnaz Sulaiman and Datuk Nadzarin Wok Nordin.
During the proceedings, the panel asked both parties whether the appeal was linked to Najib’s separate judicial review concerning the royal addendum order that allegedly permits him to complete his sentence under house arrest.
Lim observed that the evidential issues raised in the contempt application appeared related to the house arrest judicial review, which is also under appeal and pending hearing before the Court of Appeal.
The panel sought clarification from the parties on whether the appeal should proceed immediately or whether the house arrest appeal should be heard first.
Shafee argued that the two matters were independent and should not be conflated.
According to him, even if the decision regarding the addendum order were upheld, the application for leave to commence contempt proceedings could still continue as both cases involved separate legal questions.
He subsequently requested a 10-minute adjournment to consult Najib, while Senior Federal Counsel Shamsul Bolhassan informed the court he would seek further instructions from the Attorney-General.
After the brief consultation, Shafee told the court that Najib required additional time to consider the matter and requested a three-week adjournment.
The panel then fixed March 30 for case management.
Najib initially filed the application for leave to commence committal proceedings against Ahmad Terrirudin on May 21 last year.
The application is based on a copy of the addendum order dated Jan 29, 2024 issued by the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong, which Najib said was obtained by his son, Datuk Mohamad Nizar Najib, from the Office of the Sultan of Pahang.
Najib further claimed that a letter dated Jan 4, 2025 from the Pahang Royal Council formally confirmed the authenticity and validity of the addendum order.
He contends that the document not only confirmed the existence of the royal addendum and the directive regarding house arrest, but also showed that the order was addressed directly to Ahmad Terrirudin in his capacity as attorney-general at the time for implementation.
According to Najib, this indicates that the former attorney-general had direct knowledge of the order’s existence and contents.
Despite this, Najib alleges that Ahmad Terrirudin instructed his officers to mislead the High Court when it heard the application for leave to initiate the judicial review. - March 13, 2026