Muzaffar Syah Mallow, an associate professor at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia’s shariah and law faculty, said only convicts in lighter cases should be given consideration for house arrest.

He told FMT that this was crucial so that the government would not send the wrong signal to the public, considering its commitment to curb corruption.

“Convicts of serious crimes like murder, violence, sexual crimes, corruption, criminal breach of trust and abuse of power should not be allowed to undergo house arrest,” Muzaffar said.

In tabling the 2025 budget last Friday, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that the government planned to introduce a new law that will allow house arrest as an alternative punishment for certain offences.

There are no legal provisions for prisoners to serve their jail sentences under house arrest. However, Section 43 of the Prisons Act 1995 allows for a prisoner to be released on licence subject to any regulation made by the home minister.

Former prime minister Najib Razak previously claimed that he was allowed to serve the remainder of his jail term under house arrest following a purported supplementary order issued by the former king.

However, an application for leave to commence judicial review which he filed in an attempt to enforce the purported supplementary order was rejected by the Kuala Lumpur High Court in July. Najib has appealed against the decision.

PKR’s Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Karim had questioned why the bill was mentioned in Anwar’s budget speech, when it had not been read out in the Dewan Rakyat.

Meanwhile, Muda central committee member Dobby Chew questioned if the house arrest bill was aimed at benefiting certain parties, maintaining that it should not apply to those convicted of serious crimes.

Political analyst Tawfik Yaakub believed the bill should not be linked to Najib and that it was merely part of the government’s efforts to reduce overcrowding in prisons.

Under the proposed house arrest bill, offenders would be required to remain in designated locations such as their homes, care centres or worker dormitories for the duration of their sentence.

Prison officers will set and monitor the conditions for house arrest, which would ensure their compliance with the punishment, Anwar had said.