According to the Criminal High Court 3 cause list, Mohd Nazlan, who replaces Mohd Sofian Abd Razak, will hear Najib’s case which has been fixed for Aug 8 at 9am.

He will also hear an application by the defence for a gag order to prohibit the media from publishing polemics on the merit of the charges faced by Najib.

Mohd Nazlan, 51, is from the New Commercial Court 1. Mohd Sofian, who recorded Najib’s plea, has been transferred to Civil Court 10.

The transfers took effect on Aug 1 and the transfer letters were signed by Chief Judge of Malaya Zaharah Ibrahim on July 24.

On July 4, Najib pleaded not guilty before Mohd Sofian to three counts of CBT and one count of abuse of power involving SRC International Sdn Bhd funds totalling RM42 million.

It was reported that the Malaysian Bar had called for Mohd Sofian to recuse himself from the case as his elder brother, Mohd Soffi, held a position in Umno as well as the Pahang state government.

However, the Federal Court Chief Registrar’s Office, in a statement on July 6, said the selection of Mohd Sofian to preside over Najib’s trial was done randomly through its e-filing portal.

According to the statement, the registration process began when the prosecutors filed their cases in the e-filing system, which distributed them randomly to judges handling criminal cases.