PUTRAJAYA: A lawyer has gone to the Federal Court seeking to revisit a 1979 apex court ruling that the right to travel overseas is not a fundamental right.
R Kengadharan has filed four legal questions to obtain leave of the Federal Court so that his appeal against last month’s Court of Appeal ruling can be heard.
His lawyer A Srimurugan said the notice of motion to obtain leave was filed last week and a case management would be held on May 8.
Applicants must satisfy the court by framing novel legal and constitutional questions that are of public importance and raised for the first time as required under Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act.
His first question is whether the right to travel overseas is a fundamental right guaranteed by Articles 5 (1) and 8 of the Federal Constitution.
The second is whether the phrase “life or personal liberty” in the constitution should be construed narrowly as stated in Government of Malaysia v Loh Wai Kong in 1979, and thirdly whether that decision is still valid.
Finally, he’s asking if the provision relating to fundamental liberties in Article 5(1) should be interpreted restrictively.
On March 14, a three-member Court of Appeal dismissed Kengadharan’s contention that the Departure Levy Act 2018 and the Departure Levy Order 2019 were a violation of his right to travel.
Justice Azman Abdullah, who delivered the ruling, said the 1979 ruling which held that the authorities could place restrictions on the right to travel abroad was still good law.
Azman said Article 5(1) only guaranteed an individual’s freedom from unreasonable detention, the right to be informed of the reason for his arrest and his right to be represented by a lawyer of his choice.
He said the Immigration Act 1959 existed to regulate various aspects relating to immigration, including the admission into and departure out of Malaysia.
He said the Departure Levy Act 2018 and the Departure Levy Order 2019 were enacted to impose a levy when a person left Malaysia.
Kengadharan had named the finance minister and the government as respondents to the suit.
He was seeking a declaration that the Act and Order breached Article 5(1) of the constitution and were unenforceable.
Departure levies of between RM8 and RM150 were announced by then finance minister Lim Guan Eng on Aug 2, 2019. The levies were imposed beginning September that year. - FMT
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