PUTRAJAYA, Feb 10 — The Federal Court today dismissed an application from two former Penang state assemblymen who were seeking leave to appeal a decision regarding the validity of a motion passed by the state legislative assembly which declared their seats vacant.
A three-judge panel led by Chief Judge of Malaya Datuk Seri Hasnah Mohammed Hashim ruled that there were no merits in the application filed by former Sungai Acheh assemblyman Zulkifli Ibrahim and former Seberang Jaya assemblyman Dr Afif Bahardin.
Justice Hasnah, sitting with Federal Court judges Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil and Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera, did not make any order as to costs.
The two former assemblymen, through their lawyer Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun, requested the court to grant them leave to appeal, arguing that there are four novel questions of law for the Federal Court to determine.
However, lawyer A. Surendra Ananth, representing the Penang State Legislative Assembly and its Speaker Datuk Law Choo Kiang, countered that the applicants had failed to meet the requirements under Section 96 (a) and (b) of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964.
On December 8, 2023, Penang High Court judge Datuk Anand Ponnudurai ruled that Zulkifli and Dr Afif were correctly disqualified from the state assembly following their expulsion from PKR, in accordance with Article 14A of the Penang State Constitution, which prohibits party hopping.
After their expulsion from PKR, Zulkifli and Dr Afif joined Bersatu, prompting the motion for them to vacate their seats.
Justice Anand, however, ruled that Article 14A of the Penang State Constitution did not apply to former Bersatu assemblymen Khaliq Mehtab Ishaq (Bertam) and Zolkifly Lazim (Teluk Bahang), as they never left the party.
He held that both Khaliq and Zolkifly remained as members of the state assembly from May 2018 to June last year and ordered that they be paid all financial entitlements due to them until the assembly’s dissolution. The state assembly and Law did not appeal this decision to the Court of Appeal.
Meanwhile, Zulkifli and Dr Afif’s appeals in the Court of Appeal were dismissed on November 26 last year. They then filed an application seeking leave to appeal to the Federal Court.
The four had filed an originating summons seeking court declarations that the motion passed by the state assembly on March 6, 2023, which compelled them to vacate their seats, was void and unlawful.
They sought declarations that they remained members of the state assembly until its dissolution in June 2023. They had named Law and the state assembly as defendants.
All four had contested the 2018 state election under the PKR logo. At the time, Pakatan Harapan consisted of PKR, DAP, Amanah and Bersatu.
Zulkifli and Dr Afif were sacked by PKR following the Sheraton Move in 2020. Bersatu left the coalition in 2020 and formed the federal government with BN, PAS and several regional parties from Sabah and Sarawak.
In today’s proceedings, lawyer Chetan Jethwani also represented Zulkifli and Dr Afif. — Bernama
