KUALA LUMPUR: Lawyer Syed Iskandar Jaafar al-Mahdzar has filed an application for the Federal Court to determine a legal question whether the emergency proclamation by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong can be challenged on any grounds.
He also wants the apex court to determine whether Parliament is said to be sitting only when the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara are assembled together and carrying out their business.
Syed Iskandar posed the question whether an amendment to Article 150, by adding clauses 8 and 9, was in violation of the basic structure of the Federal Constitution.
The application, under Section 84 of the Judicature Act, was filed online by Messrs R Kengadharan & Co at the High Court registry yesterday and the cause papers were sighted by FMT.
That provision allows the High Court to transmit an issue of constitutional importance to the Federal Court.
In support of his application, Syed Iskandar said a Jan 8 majority of four judges in the Federal Court held that an ouster clause is beyond constitutional challenge.
He said the minority judgment of three judges had held otherwise, rendering this a fit and proper case for the question to be referred to the Federal Court.
Syed Iskandar had posed two legal questions in his originating summons filed in the High Court on Oct 30.
One is “whether on a true construction of Articles 40 and 150 of the Federal Constitution, the King has an unfettered discretion not to declare an emergency despite the advice of the prime minister or the Cabinet”.
The second is “whether an amendment to Article 150, by adding clauses 8 and 9, breached the basic structure of the constitution”.
In his latest application, Syed Iskandar has abandoned the first legal question.
On Jan 11, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah declared a state of emergency until Aug 1, or until an earlier date if the number of daily cases goes down, to curb the spread of Covid-19. - FMT
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