KUALA LUMPUR: A senior federal counsel said many had misunderstood the closed door proceedings involving Datuk Seri Najib Razak's judicial review application in relation to an alleged house arrest order, which was heard at the High Court here yesterday.
Ahmad Hanir Hambaly said yesterday's proceedings were solely for Najib's defence team to request permission (leave) from the High Court to hear the matter.
"I think many have misunderstood... yesterday was only for leave application.
"Under the law, leave applications should be heard in chambers. So, if the application succeeds in getting leave, only then will the court hear the case proper," he said, adding the court had fixed June 5 to decide on the leave application.
Hanir said this when asked to respond to criticism why the Attorney-General's Chambers (A-GC) did not oppose Najib's lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah's application for the proceedings to be held in chambers.
Court chambers is a private room or office where a judge may conduct hearings, discussions, or meetings related to a case.
When the proceeding is held 'in chambers', it means that it is conducted privately, typically with only the judge, legal representatives, and parties involved in the case present.
Shafee, at the onset of yesterday's proceeding asked the court to exclude the public from hearing the case due to 'several sensitive materials' in the case.
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The 'sensitive materials' are related to Najib's claim that the former Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah allowed him to serve his remaining jail sentence under house arrest via an addendum order.
It was reported that Hanir and his colleague Shamsul Bolhassan did not object to Shafee's request for the matter to be heard in chambers.
Judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh allowed the proceedings to be held in chambers before fixing June 5 to make his verdict on leave application.
However, this has sparked widespread criticism with former Law Minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim joining in the fray by questioning why the matter had been heard in chambers.
In a Facebook posting titled covet operation, Zaid questioned why a case of great public interest was heard "in secret".
"They agree that sensitive matters are involved. Sensitive to whom?
"In almost all cases brought to court will involve sensitive issues. So, is it a new rule that both prosecution and defence can agree to hide their cases from public hearings?," he wrote.
It was reported that Najib had filed an application to compel the government to produce the addendum order, the contents of which the former prime minister says have not been revealed by the government.
He named the Home Minister, Prison Department commissioner general, Attorney-General (AG), 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.
Najib is currently serving a 12-year jail term after he was found guilty of abuse of power and criminal breach of trust involving RM42 million from SRC International, a former 1MDB subsidiary.
He was also fined RM210 million.