Muhyiddin Yassin and the government’s application to strike out a lawsuit over the validity of the prime minister’s advice to declare an emergency will come up for a court hearing on Aug 24.
This after the Kuala Lumpur High Court today dismissed a reference application by former Umno leader Khairuddin Abu Hassan (above) linked to the suit.
On Feb 17, Muhyiddin and the government had filed to strike out the legal challenge by Khairuddin, a stalwart of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Khairuddin had filed his challenge claiming the prime minister's advice to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to declare an emergency was invalid as at the time he had allegedly lost the majority support of Members of Parliament.
The striking-out bid by Muhyiddin and the government was over the claimed reasons that Khairuddin's suit was "frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of court process".
Khairuddin’s had earlier applied to refer to the Federal Court four constitutional questions linked to his suit and today was fixed for hearing via Zoom before judge Noorin Badaruddin.
However, following the judge today dismissing the plaintiff’s reference application, the court then fixed Aug 24 to proceed with hearing the prime minister and government's striking-out bid.
Khairuddin had sought to refer four constitutional questions to the Federal Court so that the apex court’s findings on the said issues could help achieve a speedy and economic resolution to the main suit.
Among the four constitutional questions was whether advice on declaring an emergency given to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong by a prime minister who allegedly has lost the confidence of the majority of Members of Parliament is invalid and unconstitutional.
Today’s High Court outcome was confirmed by Khairuddin’s lawyer Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali, who took part in the Zoom hearing of the reference questions.
“Enclosure 13 (reference application) was dismissed with no order as to costs.
“Hearing of Enclosure 10 (which is the) striking out (application has been fixed) for Aug 24 2021,” Rafique said when contacted today.
On whether Khairuddin would be filing an appeal with the Court of Appeal over today’s High Court decision, the lawyer said he needed to consult with his client.
Senior federal counsel Suzana Atan and S Narkunavathy appeared for Muhyiddin and the government in today’s proceedings.
Khairuddin’s suit was just one among several recently filed to challenge the validity of Muhyiddin’s advice for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to proclaim the present emergency.
Others who have mounted similar legal actions were PKR president Anwar Ibrahim and electoral watchdog body Bersih.
Muhyiddin had on Jan 11 had an audience with the Agong, whereby he advised His Majesty over the need for a state of emergency to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
In his suit, Khairuddin claimed that Muhyiddin’s advice was invalid as he had allegedly already lost the support of the majority of lawmakers in Parliament.
He further alleged that this was because the withdrawal of support by Machang MP Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub on Jan 9 had caused the premier’s majority to slide to 110 parliamentarians.
Besides the present lawsuit, Khairuddin had also filed an unsuccessful separate legal action to compel the attorney-general to advise Muhyiddin to step down as premier.
The action was based on similar grounds that Muhyiddin had lost the support of the majority of MPs.
On April 27, the Kuala Lumpur High Court struck out this legal action, ruling that Khairuddin has no locus standi (legal standing) to file the legal action in the first place. - Mkini
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