Court sets Oct 5 on Hadi’s bid to strike out hudud suit

Shamsul says the defendants filed a preliminary objection on the grounds that the applicant should have filed the application.

KUALA LUMPUR: The preliminary objection raised by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang and four others to strike out a suit over the proposal of a bill to amend the Syariah Courts Act (Criminal Jurisdiction) 1965 in Parliament, will be decided in court on October 5.

High Court Judge (Appellate and Special Powers Division) Asmabi Mohamad fixed the date after hearing submissions from counsel Sulaiman Abdullah representing Abdul Hadi as the defendant, as well as Senior Federal Counsel, Shamsul Bolhassan.

Shamsul represented Dewan Rakyat Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia, two Deputy Speakers of the Dewan Rakyat, Ismail Mohamed Said and Ronald Kiandee, and Dewan Rakyat secretary, Roosme Hamzah, who were also named as defendants in the lawsuit.

The proceeding was also attended by lawyer Siti Kasim representing the four individuals who filed the suit – Mansoor Saat, Azira Aziz, Hasbeemaputra Abu Bakar and Hazwany Jamaluddin.

Shamsul told reporters that the defendants filed a preliminary objection on the grounds that the applicant should have filed the application through a judicial review, and not an originating summons.

“This is because they (four applicants) are challenging the decision-making process by the public authorities such as the Parliament. So, attacking the decision-making process should be by way of judicial review under Order 49 of the Standing Orders of the Parliament,” Shamsul said.

The court was supposed to hear Hadi’s request to dismiss the suit of the four individuals today, on the grounds that they (the applicants) had no right to block the proposal, as well as its presentation and debate in Parliament.

Abdul Hadi, who filed the application on July 2 also claimed that the originating summons filed by the four applicants had no merit and as a member of Parliament, he held special privileges and immunity.

The court was also supposed to hear the application of the four individuals to prevent Abdul Hadi and four others from presenting the bill to amend the Syariah Courts Act (Criminal Jurisdiction) 1965 in Parliament.

The four individuals who filed the originating summons on June 12 also sought a declaration that the tabling of the amendment by Abdul Hadi breached the terms outlined in Pakatan Rakyat’s ‘Buku Jingga’ (Orange Book).

– BERNAMA