Kuala Lampur, Sept. 21 -- Nine months to this day, High Court judge Alice Loke (as she then was) delivered her judgment dismissing a judicial review application by former prime minister Dato' Sri Najib Razak seeking orders of mandamus to allow him to serve his imprisonment sentence under house arrest.

Concluding her judgment, the learned High Court judge said as follows:

"[T]he [Yang di-Pertuan Agong] is a constitutional monarch, and he exercises powers and functions in accordance with the provision of the Constitution. The exercise of the prerogative power of mercy is no exception. It must be exercised within the legal framework providing for safeguards and limits in the Constitution."

Earlier in her judgment, the learned High Court j...