The three benches have ruled 2-1 to grant Najib Razak's appeal to use the law to challenge his case at the high court.
Malaysia's appeals court has granted former Prime Minister Najib Razak permission to review a document it said would allow him to serve under house arrest, a rare victory for the disgraced former leader at the heart of the country's biggest crisis.
A three-member bench ruled 2-1 on Monday to grant Najib's appeal to use the law to challenge his case at the High Court.
“Considering that there is no objection (to the existence of the law), there is no reason why the law was not followed,” said Mohamad Firuz Jaffril, one of the three judges of the Court of Appeal.
71-year-old Najib, who was arrested for billions of dollars 1 MDB scandalhe had appealed a lower court decision last July that rejected his decision to confirm the existence of a royal decree that he said gave him the right to be arrested.
Malaysia's parole board, which was then headed by the then King, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, agreed in February last year to reduce Najib's sentence to six years from 12 and reduce the fine he was given, sparking an uproar.
But Najib insisted that the “extraordinary plan” was going ahead house arrest it was issued by the old king along with the decree and was not executed by the government officials.
Following the court's decision on Monday, Malaysia's interior minister said the prisons department had not received any information about Najib's house arrest last year.
The Ministry of Interior did not receive an interview on the matter from the former king of Malaysia, who was the chairman of the amnesty, Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail told reporters. “The government will implement the royal decree if it is received,” he said.
According to the constitution, the king, who changes every five years under the special rule of Malaysia, has the power to make a decision on granting pardons, according to the advice of the pardon commission.
Following Monday's verdict, “Najib was happy,” his lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told a press conference. “(He's) very relieved that he finally recognized something unfair that was put on him.”
Najib was found guilty in 2020 of breach of trust and abuse of power for receiving illegal funds from a unit of state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
Najib is still on trial for corruption in other cases related to 1MDB. He has always denied wrongdoing.
Malaysian and United States investigators say $4.5bn was stolen from 1MDB and more than $1bn was transferred to accounts linked to Najib.