KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has objected to the Malaysian Bar's legal challenge against his royal pardon on grounds that the Bar lacked quorum.
Najib's lawyer Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee, who affirmed an affidavit for a preliminary objection, stated that the applicant (Bar) had no locus to commence the legal action as its 78th Annual General Meeting (AGM) that purportedly passed a motion to file the action was void, ultra vires and a breach of statutory duty as provided in the Legal Profession Act (LPA) 1976 (LPA) when the said AGM was held without the requisite quorum in attendance.
The AGM was held on March 16 where a motion on Najib's pardon was being discussed (which resulted in the present legal action) but Muhammad Farhan claimed that there were not enough members in the audience.
"Pursuant to Section 64(4) of the LPA, the quorum to commence the AGM requires 500 members of the Bar to be in attendance. However, I verily believe that at 10am March 16, the requisite quorum of members had not been achieved," he said.
In such a circumstance, Muhammad Farhan said it was mandatory for the AGM to have been adjourned to the next day in order to achieve the requisite number of attendees.
"The wisdom behind this requirement is clearly to allow more members to attend at the next sitting in an attempt to constitute a quorum," he said.
However, instead of adjourning the AGM to the next day,
the AGM chairman announced an adjournment of the AGM to 11.15am on the same day purportedly in compliance with Section 64(5) of the LPA, which Muhammad Farhan said was a "misguided interpretation of the LPA".
"Therefore, premised on the above I verily believe that the 78th AGM of the Bar is null and void in law rendering the decision to file this suit ultra vires and ought to be struck out," he added.
Muhammad Farhan also stated that the Bar had no locus standi to commence the action as they do not have any legal or equitable interest in the matter pertaining to Najib's pardon.
"Najib's pardon is a private matter that does not have any legal effect on members of the Bar or the public at large and therefore the applicant's challenge also ought to be struck out on this ground separately," he said.
On April 26, the Bar filed the application for leave to commence judicial review to challenge Najib's pardon.
It named the Pardons Board of the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, and Putrajaya, and Najib, as the first and second respondents respectively.
The Bar is seeking a declaration that the Jan 29 Pardons Board's decision regarding Najib's application to halve his prison sentence, which would result in an early release on Aug 23, 2028, is illegal, unconstitutional, and invalid.
It is also seeking a declaration that the Pardons Board's decision to reduce Najib's fine from RM210mil to RM50 mil, with the condition that failure to settle it would extend his prison term by a year, resulting in early release on Aug 23, 2029, is illegal, unconstitutional, and invalid.
Najib, 70, has been serving his sentence in Kajang Prison since Aug 23, 2022, after being convicted of misappropriating RM42mil from SRC International Sdn Bhd.
He filed a petition for royal pardon on Sept 2, 2022, and the Pardons Board reduced his prison sentence from 12 years to six years, while the fine was reduced from RM210 mil to RM50mil.
