Apex court orders retrial of Jasin election petition

The Federal Court today ordered a retrial of the election petition on the outcome of the Jasin parliament seat in Malacca.

Last October, the Elections Court in Kuala Lumpur ruled that BN candidate Ahmad Hamzah would retain the seat which he won in the 14th general election.

Judge Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali had said the petition by Pakatan Harapan candidate Khairuddin Abu Hassan should have been filed in the place where the election was held.

However, the apex court panel headed by Chief Justice Richard Malanjum unanimously agreed with Khairuddin's counsel Gopal Sri Ram that the Elections Court, which sat in Kuala Lumpur, had the jurisdiction to hear the matter.

The panel also agreed that Khairuddin, who filed an appeal over the decision, had pleaded proper particulars.

"We agree on the two issues and we allow the appeal,” said Justice Malanjum.

Meanwhile, Sri Ram asked that the matter be heard before another election judge, to which Justice Malanjum consented.

The chief justice also ordered Ahmad to pay costs of RM20,000.

The other judges on the panel were the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak David Wong Dak Wah, Federal Court judges Alizatul Khair Othman Said, Rohana Yusof and Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat. - Mkini