Najib sues after prison department rejects bid to attend Dewan Rakyat

Najib Razak has filed legal action to challenge the Prison Department’s decision rejecting his request to attend the current Dewan Rakyat sitting.

Najib, 69, filed the application for leave for judicial review through Messrs Shafee & Co at the Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday.

The former prime minister named the government, the home minister and the commissioner general of prison as the respondents.

He is seeking an order to quash the decision of the third respondent (prison commissioner general) to not allow him access to his officers/aides for the purposes of parliamentary, legislative and constituent work.

He is also seeking an order to set aside the third respondent’s decision to not allow him to attend Parliament on the scheduled dates of sitting.

He is likewise seeking a declaration that he is entitled to have reasonable access to his officers/aides for the purposes of parliamentary, legislative and constituent work, as well as a mandamus order for the respondents to take all steps necessary to allow him reasonable access to his officers/aides for those purposes.

In his supporting affidavit, Najib said the decision of the first and third respondents rejecting his application on grounds of security was conveyed to him via the Kajang Prison Office on Sept 28, and that he had appealed against the decision to the second respondent on Sept 30.

As the first day of Parliament sitting was scheduled for Oct 3, Najib said he asked for a decision to be made expeditiously so as not to render the application nugatory or academic.

However, he said there was no response from the second respondent and, considering the exigencies of time, he filed the legal action.

Najib said that the first and third respondents’ refusal to allow him access to his officers and aides for the purposes of parliamentary and constituent matters and the subsequent inaction by the second respondent was an exercise of unreasonableness or irrationality.

Najib added that pursuant to Article 59 of the Federal Constitution, he had a constitutional obligation to discharge his duties effectively and with substance as an MP in the representation of the constituents of Pekan. 

"A denial of that right by the respondents in refusing me the ability to administer my constituency is in effect a denial of the well-being of the constituency of Pekan," he said in his affidavit.

The matter has been fixed for case management before High Court judge Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid on Oct 12.

Najib’s counsel Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee confirmed that the application was filed yesterday at 1pm.