Court of Appeal rules Kota Siputeh not vacated

Umno's Abu Hassan Sharif has been reinstated as the state assemblyperson for Kota Siputeh in Kedah.

This follows the Court of Appeal's decision today to overturn a 2009 Kuala Lumpur High Court decision which had declared the seat as vacated.

The decision was a unanimous one by the appellate court's three-member panel led by Justice Ramly Ali, and overturns anearlier decision by Justice Alizatul Khair Osman.

The other two judges are justices Linton Albert and Aziah Ali.

Kedah Speaker Dr Abd Isa Ismail, who was represented by lead counsel Sulaiman Abdullah, applied for a stay.

Justice Ramly, however, asked him to file a proper application.

The Court of Appeal gave no grounds for the judgement, with Ramly saying only that the court agreed with the submission by Abu Hassan's counsel Mohd Hafarizam Harun and the Election Commission (EC).

The EC was represented by senior federal counsel Amarjeet Singh and senior federal counsel Suzana Atan.

Commenting on the decision, Hafarizam (left) said the court was right in determining that two consecutive meetings should be read carefully and in accordance with the Kedah constitution.

"It should not mean as what had been suggested by the Kedah speaker," he said.

"It (the ruling) also shows that the speaker's power is not absolute and can be checked by the courts."

He advised all assemblyperson and MPs to do their job responsibly.

Justice Ramly also granted Abu Hassan's application for costs of RM5,000. Abu Hassan has not been receiving his pay and allowances as assemblyperson following the Nov 2009, Kuala Lumpur High Court decision

Ramly, who heads the panel, was the solitary judge at the Court of Appeal when it granted a stay of the Kuala Lumpur High Court decision which declared Pakatan Rakyat's Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin as the rightful Perak menteri besar.