AG says lack of scrutiny led to errors in Najib’s court documents

Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar has raised concerns over the precision of the Kuala Lumpur High Court's Order of Discharge connected to Najib Razak's sentence in the SRC International corruption case. According to Dusuki, "obvious" defects were present in the document, which should not have occurred if due diligence had been exercised.

He emphasized that the errors were evidently problematic, causing undue complications. The issues pertain to the correctness of terminology and legal clauses utilized within the document, a matter that has piqued the interest of legal professionals. Initially issued after Najib's RM50 million fine was settled via a solidarity fund, enabling him to undergo the remainder of his prison term under house arrest, the document later prompted the Attorney-General's Chambers to request a review of the conditional pardon and Order of Discharge.

They argued that these matters entailed "complex legal questions" with significant implications for the execution of the royal pardon and the court order. Despite not disputing the conditional pardon, the AGC's request for clarification aimed to elucidate the legal ramifications of the discharge order. This decision sparked criticism from Istana Negara, which maintained that Najib's pardon order was straightforward and unambiguous, wholly unrelated to any other cases Najib was involved in.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim disclosed that Dusuki had sought an audience with the king to clarify the legal issues that led to the request for a deferment of Najib's house arrest. However, Dusuki chose not to comment on the invitation.