KUALA LUMPUR: The public has been excluded from the hearing of Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz's bid to intervene in a judicial review application regarding Datuk Seri Najib Razak's purported house arrest order by the former King.

A source from the Judiciary Department said this was because the matter has been taken into chambers.

Court chambers is a private room or office where a judge may conduct hearings, discussions, or meetings related to a case.

When the proceedings are held "in chambers", it means that it is conducted privately, typically with only the judge, legal representatives, and parties involved in the case present.

High Court judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh is slated to hear Tengku Zafrul's application for leave (permission) to intervene in Najib's judicial review application, which seeks to compel the government to produce the addendum order issued by the former King.

However, it could not be ascertained whether the judge would make his ruling on the spot or set a new date to deliver the judgment.

Tengku Zafrul filed the application recently to enable him to submit an affidavit addressing the "factual inaccuracies" in Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's affidavit to support Najib's case.

The Umno president had claimed that Tengku Zafrul showed him a copy of the addendum order on his phone on Jan 30, which he personally photographed or scanned from an original copy as shown to him by the former King, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.

On Jan 29, the Federal Territories Pardons Board, which the then king presided over, halved Najib's 12-year jail sentence for abuse of power and criminal breach of trust, and reduced his RM210 million fine to RM50 million.

Najib claimed in his judicial review application to the High Court on April 1 that the then king had issued an addendum order - also on Jan 29 - allowing him to serve the remainder of his jail sentence under house arrest.

Najib named the home minister, Prisons Department commissioner-general, attorney-general, Federal Territories Pardons Board, minister in the prime minister's department (law and institutional reform), Legal Affairs Division director-general and the government as respondents in his application

He is serving the jail sentence after a conviction for abuse of power and criminal breach of trust involving RM42 million from SRC International, a former 1MDB subsidiary.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/crime-courts/2024/05/1045423/tengku-zafruls-intervention-najibs-house-arrest-judicial-review-be