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Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is officially heading home today, leaving Kajang Prison this afternoon to serve out the remainder of his sentence under strict house arrest at his luxury estate at No. 11, Jalan Langgak Duta.

His highly anticipated move home was made possible this afternoon (10 Nov) after High Court Judge Datuk Aslam Zainuddin intervened to resolve a high-stakes clerical crisis.

The court threw out a heavily flawed release order from 6 November and replaced it with a legally airtight house-confinement warrant.

Prisons Department vehicles and police escorts have already mobilised to transport the former premier, while security teams have set up active roadblocks around his Taman Duta residence to receive the convoy.

However, this transition introduces a bizarre new reality for the household.

Under the Prisons Act, signed by Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and published in the Federal Government Gazette, the entire 4,558-square-meter Langgak Duta premises has been legally declared a federal prison.

How Do You Police a Mobile Phone Ban at Home?

Because the decree gazetted the entire property—not just a single designated bedroom—Najib’s wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, and his immediate family members will live in a legally recognised holding facility.

Legal experts and political observers note that the family is fully permitted to stay with him, but the logistics create an unprecedented enforcement headache for the state.

While Rosmah and the children remain free to leave the house, go shopping, or meet contacts at any time, Najib is strictly forbidden to do so.

As an active inmate under state supervision, he is legally barred from owning or using a mobile phone or any electronic communication devices.

However, security analysts point out that enforcing this is practically impossible; authorities cannot realistically police private conversations or stop Najib from using his wife’s or children’s phones when guards aren’t looking.

Outside the domestic arrangement, the rush to fix the court paperwork today was a critical legal save by state prosecutors.

Alarm Bells at the AGC: The Flawed Wording That Set Off a Legal Panic

When UMNO successfully settled Najib’s RM50 million royal pardon fine last Friday (6 Nov), the court registry staff accidentally used the phrase “discharge forthwith” in the initial documents.

In legal terms, that phrase implies a prisoner has completed their sentence and is free to walk away as a regular citizen.

That phrase immediately set off alarm bells in the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) because Najib is currently facing a separate, massive 15-year prison sentence for his main 1MDB trial.

The High Court previously ruled that this 15-year term is consecutive—meaning it can only start ticking down the moment his current SRC International sentence officially ends.

The 1MDB Legal Trap: How Prosecutors Blocked a Million-Dollar Loophole

Had the AGC allowed Najib to go home under that flawed “discharge” paperwork last week, his legal team would have been handed the ultimate loophole.

They could have argued that his first sentence was legally over on 6 November, which would have automatically started the clock on his 15-year 1MDB sentence while he sat comfortably at home.

By forcing the court to issue a precise house-confinement warrant just before he left prison today, prosecutors blocked that escape route.

The new warrant makes it explicitly clear that Najib is not free; he is simply shifting from a federal prison cell to a gazetted home-confinement facility until 23 August, 2028.

Outside the Langgak Duta gates, this transition is already playing out in real time, with police deployments establishing active checkpoints alongside supporters and media crews running non-stop livestreams.

He gets to sleep in his own bed tonight, but the state still holds the keys—and standard iron prison bars are officially waiting for him the moment his house arrest expires in 2028.

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