The Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered on 10 Nov that Datuk Seri Najib Razak serve the remainder of his SRC International sentence under house arrest, cancelling an earlier discharge order that had kept him in Kajang Prison since 6 Nov, Malay Mail reported.
Judge Datuk Aslam Zainuddin set aside the Order of Discharge on Payment of Fine issued last week and directed the Court Registrar to issue a new warrant of release. Aslam said the new order cancels the 6 Nov order and states that “the defendant will serve his remaining sentence under house imprisonment”.
The order places the 73-year-old former prime minister at No 11, Jalan Langgak Duta, Taman Duta in Kuala Lumpur until 23 Aug 2028, giving effect to the conditional pardon granted by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim on 18 Sept. Umno paid the RM50 million fine on his behalf on 6 Nov, drawing on a crowdfunding effort launched on 18 Sept.
The hearing followed an application by the Attorney-General’s Chambers that morning to rectify the 6 Nov order. The AGC had questioned whether paying the fine ended only the fine or granted a full discharge, a distinction that touches his separate 1MDB sentence. According to The Star, lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told reporters the clarification had removed the doubt.
“It is good that the court has clarified so that those who apparently found it hard to understand, will now understand,” Shafee said. He maintained that the original order was clear and that carrying out a royal pardon sits outside the court’s role.
Within hours, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke Siew Fook resigned as transport minister with immediate effect in a statement carried by FMT. Loke said the decision followed the court’s ruling and the position he announced on 6 Nov, and thanked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for the mandate given to him since December 2022. He had said in September he would step down once Najib began serving his sentence at home, and stayed on at Anwar’s request until then.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the Home Ministry and the Prisons Department were ready to carry out the order. He described the case as high profile with major political implications and asked all sides to handle it maturely, saying the earlier delay came from legal questions over how the pardon order and the discharge order should be read.
Najib, in a light blue baju melayu, arrived at the court complex at 3.08pm and sat in the front row of the public gallery beside his daughter, Nooryana Najwa. Lawyer Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee said Najib was expected at his residence at about 7.30pm, after prison officers read him the conditions of his detention.
Najib was jailed in August 2022 after the Federal Court upheld his conviction for abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving RM42 million of SRC International funds. He was sentenced to 12 years and fined RM210 million. A pardon in January 2024 by then Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah halved the prison term and cut the fine to RM50 million.
He also faces a 15-year jail term in the 1MDB case, which the High Court ordered in December 2025 to run after the SRC term. His appeal has yet to be heard by the Court of Appeal.
Shafee said the defence team had not been given the specific conditions of the house arrest. Najib would not be allowed to leave the residence without permission or a valid reason, and visitors would still need approval.
