UKM, gov't get leave to contest UUCA ruling

The Federal Court has granted leave (permission) to Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), the Higher Education Ministry and the government to challenge a landmark ruling on the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA).

The unanimous ruling today will allow the plaintiffs to challenge the Court of Appeal decision, which had declared that Section 15(5)(a) of the UUCA is unconstitutional in that it bars students from participating in politics.

The five-member bench allowed the question posed by the plaintiffs to be decided in their appeal, namely ‘whether Section 15(5)(a) of the UUCA is consistent with Article 10(1)(a) of the federal constitution and (is) therefore valid (in) law’.

Lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar (left), representing four former UKM students, argued that the matter is academic as they were cleared during campus disciplinary proceedings and have since graduated.

Malik argued that the government also intends to amend the Act, following the Court of Appeal decision.

The government was represented by Amarjeet Singh and Muhammad Shafee Abdullah appeared for UKM.

The students - Mohd Hilman Idham, Ismail Aminuddin, Azlin Shafina Mohamad Adza and Wong King Chai - had been arrested by police for allegedly taking part in the Hulu Selangor by-election campaign in April 2010.

They then sought a declaration that the UUCA is unconstitutional, but their application was dismissed in September 2010 by the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s Appellate and Special Powers Division.

However, the Court of Appeal overturned the decision last October in a 2-1 majority decision, leading to the appeal.

[More to follow]