Justice K Muniandy made the ruling in the High Court this morning.
“In the present case there is nothing to show that the prosecution is able to proceed with the case for the time being, or proceed within a reasonable time.
“Thus, it is unlikely that the case could proceed expeditiously in the short future.
“The deputy public prosecutor had graciously considered in this Court a question put to him if the prosecution would be prejudiced if an order of DNAA as requested for by counsel for the accused is allowed—and his answer was a resounding no.
“Thus, the circumstances of the case lean in favour of the accused whereby the prosecution as of today is not ready to proceed with the trial of the preferred charges against the accused,” the judge said in his brief judgement.
Muniandy also took note that for six years since the case was brought against Najib in 2019, no witness testimony has been pursued but only a plethora of postponements, indicating that the prosecution is not ready with to prosecute the case.
“Once the accused is charged in court, the charge cannot be hanging over his head for an indeterminate or indefinite period.
“That would be harsh and illegal,” he said.
Last week, Najib’s counsel Shafee Abdullah submitted that it was unfair for his client to wait indefinitely for a fixed trial date as the prosecution was unable to provide a timeline to gather exhibits used in the previous SRC trial.
The court was told that 807 exhibits were tendered in the earlier SRC trial.
Najib, 71, had asked for the three money laundering charges, brought against him in February 2019, to be withdrawn.
In a later case which began on April 3, 2019, Najib was slapped with seven charges of abuse of power, money laundering and criminal breach of trust involving RM42 million in SRC funds.
On July 28, 2020, the High Court convicted the former prime minister of all seven charges. His appeals from conviction and sentence were dismissed by the Court of Appeal on Dec 8, 2021 and the Federal Court on Aug 23, 2022.
He received a partial pardon in January last year and is currently serving a reduced six-year prison term.