KUALA LUMPUR, June 20 — Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was today granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) in his final criminal case involving SRC International Sdn Bhd funds amounting to RM27 million, after trial has stalled since 2019.

The decision was delivered by High Court Judge K. Muniandy during today’s hearing on whether to set new trial dates or grant a DNAA as previously applied by the defence.

Muniandy said the rule of law was applicable to prevent such a detrimental situation whereby an accused person is saddled which criminal charges with no outcome for an indefinite and indeterminate period.

“The prolonged wait for trial has become a long haul for the accused person, denying him of a timely resolution,” he said.

“This court is also mindful of the prevailing fact that the preferred charges against the accused dates back to the offence being committed in the year 2014, now it is 2025, and the case has not taken off for trial.

“By the virtue of these factors, the most appropriate order is for this court to discharge accused person without acquitting him so they he’s not saddle with the charges preferred against him,” he added.

With today’s DNAA, Najib has only the 1MDB trial still pending.

He is currently serving a jail term for the misappropriation of RM42 million in the SRC International funds case.

He was also previously acquitted over the removal of key information from the auditor-general’s 2016 report on 1MDB; and granted a DNAA in his RM6.6 billion International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) criminal breach of trust case.

Najib’s lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah had previously suggested to court to grant his client a DNAA in the interest of justice as trial has been indefinitely postponed since 2019.

A DNAA means an accused person can face trial for the same charges in the future if the prosecution decides to reinstate them.

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