Court to hear Tian Chua's case on eligibility to contest in elections on Oct 14

PKR vice-president Tian Chua's legal action to determine his qualification to contest in any future general and by-elections has been set for hearing before the Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mariana Yahya at 10am on Monday, Oct 14.

This followed his withdrawal of an appeal before the Court of Appeal in July last year, concerning his disqualification to stand as a candidate in the Batu parliamentary constituency for the 14th General Elections (GE14).

The present originating summons, which named the Election Commission (EC) as the sole respondent, was filed by legal firm Messrs Ngeow and Tan at the Kuala Lumpur High Court Registry on April 26 this year.

According to a copy of the originating summons made available to Malaysiakini today, Chua seeks a declaration that he was still qualified to stand as a candidate because two separate High Courts had ruled that the RM2,000 fine levied against him did not jeopardise his eligibility to do so.

On June 29, 2010, it was reported that Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Ghazali Cha has stated in his written judgment that the RM2,000 fine imposed on Chua will not cause his disqualification as then Batu MP.

On June 17 that same year, the judge dismissed Chua’s appeal but reduced the sentence from RM3,000 to RM2,000, saying that he adopted the 1993 Supreme Court decision in Public Prosecutor vs Leong Yin Ming that only a fine of RM2,001 or more would result in an automatic disqualification.

Chua’s then appeal was against a RM3,000 fine levied against him by a Magistrate’s Court, following a conviction for voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from carrying out an official duty, an offence under Section 332 of the Penal Code.

On March 2 last year, the Shah Alam High Court reduced Chua’s fine from RM3,000 to RM2,000 for a conviction of insulting the modesty of a police officer. The initial fine was levied by the Sessions Court.

Immediately after High Court proceedings on that day, Chua was reported to have said that the RM2,000 fine would not affect his legibility to contest in GE14.

According to cause papers for the current legal action, Chua said that despite the sentencing in the two court cases, then Dewan Rakyat Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia had declared that the then Batu MP was still a member of parliament.

"Throughout the period when the applicant (Chua) was a member of parliament, the applicant had attended every parliamentary session, got involved in debates and votes proceedings (in parliament), and the applicant's questions were answered by ministers from 2008 until parliament was dissolved on April 7, 2018," he said.

Chua noted that he was allowed to become a candidate and even succeeded in winning the Batu parliamentary constituency in the 13th General Election (GE13) without attracting any protest from any party, despite the sentence of RM2,000 fine in his two previous court cases.

He said that the returning officer at the Batu constituency in the run-up to GE14 had failed to take into account the above matters (at parliament and court) despite him trying to explain it, which led to the rejection of his candidacy form.

"The applicant (Chua) has a legitimate expectation that his qualification while serving as P115 Batu member of parliament was valid under the Federal Constitution and the law, and therefore he did not lose his qualification under Article 48 (1) (e) of the Federal Constitution," he said.

Article 48 (1) (e) states that a person is disqualified from being a member of the House of Parliament if he is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment of not less than one year or a fine of not less than RM2,000 and has not received a free pardon.

"Therefore, the applicant (Chua) has a real fear of the possibility that the respondent (EC) or any other party would dispute and/or deny the applicant's qualification in future for any elections, including by-elections.

"The applicant's qualification and right to be an election candidate and to contest need to be determined by this honourable court," Chua said.

He also seeks a declaration that it would be unjust and inequitable to deny his qualification and right to contest as an election candidate in light of events at both parliament and at court that allegedly affirmed his eligibility to contest in general elections, among others.

He also seeks consequential relief that the court deems fit and proper, as well as legal cost. - Mkini