KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 13 (Reuters): Jailed former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak won a major court battle on Wednesday that took him a step closer to being able to serve out a years-long jail term over the multi-billion dollar 1MDB scandal at home.

Najib, imprisoned since August 2022 in one of several cases related to 1MDB, has been seeking a judicial review to compel authorities to confirm the existence of and execute a royal order issued by former King Al-Sultan Abdullah entitling him to serve the remainder of his jail sentence under house arrest.

In a unanimous decision, the Federal Court, Malaysia's top tribunal, said on Wednesday it accepted that there was a royal document related to granting house arrest for Najib but it was not in a position to determine its authenticity.

Najib has said an addendum order accompanied a pardon by Al-Sultan Abdullah in January last year that halved his sentence from 12 years to six.

The case has stirred intrigue in Malaysia, with multiple government authorities, including members of the pardons board, denying knowledge of the document for months despite the former king's office saying an addendum had been issued.

The Federal Court's three-member panel said while it accepted the order's existence, it could not determine whether the document was truly issued as part of the pardon.

It referred the case to a lower tribunal, with the next hearing to be held on Aug. 18.

"We remit the case to the High Court for the hearing of the substantive judicial review proceedings before a new judge," said Federal Court judge Zabariah Mohd Yusof.

Najib's lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said his client hoped for the case to proceed swiftly and called on the government to adhere to the addendum order.

"The minute the king signed the decree, you cannot question his decision," Muhammad Shafee said.

Malaysia's king plays a ceremonial role but the monarch can grant clemency to convicted persons under discretionary powers granted by the federal constitution.

Decisions made by the country's royals are rarely challenged. Negative remarks about the monarchy can be prosecuted under a colonial-era Sedition Act, which has been used against people who criticise the royals on social media.

Photo from Reuters