Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali today filed a judicial review application seeking to declassify the auditor-general’s report on state investment fund 1MDB.

The suit filed at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur named Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, auditor-general Ambrin Buang and the government as the first, second and third respondents.

Azmin later told reporters the application was made under Order 53 of the Rules of Court 2012 to challenge classification of the report as an official secret under the Official Secrets Act 1972.

"As an MP I have a duty to ensure that the (audit) report must be made known to the public," Azmin said at the High Court lobby.

He also said the application was filed in his personal capacity as Gombak MP.

"We have to seek a court declaration that the first respondent had acted in conflict of interest in issuing a certificate under Section 2B of the OSA Act 1972 to the second respondent, directing the latter to classify his report on 1MDB as an official secret," Azmin said, reading from the official court document.

The application also seeks a declaration that classification of the report under OSA was unlawful and ultra vires the Federal Constitution.

This is on top of seeking a mandamus order to compel the respondents, their agents and officers, to declassify the 1MDB report pursuant to Section 2C of the OSA, and later to release it to the public.

'Excerpts already published by Sarawak Report'

Azmin's counsel Sivarasa Rasiah pointed out that whistleblower website Sarawak Report had already published alleged excerpts from the audit report.

"So the actual report should have been declassified," Sivarasa said, adding that the move should have been done in Parliament, when the lawmakers were debating the Public Accounts Committee report on 1MDB.

Tumpat MP Kamaruddin Jaafar, who is also a PAC member, said Ambrin himself had intended to declassify the audit report upon conclusion of the PAC investigation.

"His message was that once the PAC report was tabled in Parliament, the audit report should be declassified," Kamaruddin said.

The National Audit Department and the PAC were among the local authorities that had initiated investigations linked to 1MDB.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission had previously cleared Najib of any wrongdoings while the US DOJ suit only made references to a "Malaysian Official 1".

Critics have said "Malaysian Official 1" could only refer to Najib, who in turn has insisted that no assumptions should be made on the matter.