Court has no jurisdiction to hear suit over HSR cancellation: AGC

The courts have no power to hear a lawsuit over the cabinet’s public policy decision to cancel the RM110 billion High-Speed Rail (HSR) project between this country and Singapore, contended the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC).

Solicitor-general Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh (above) made this claim to back an application by the government and four others to strike out a lawsuit by Malaysian citizen Mohd Hatta Sanuri over the cancellation of the ambitious infrastructure project.

Through an affidavit in support of the striking out application filed at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur on April 7, Terrirudin claimed the issue is non-justiciable (not within the court’s jurisdiction) as the cabinet decision was based on negotiation with the island republic as well as studies on the nation’s economic interest and costs.

The government’s legal representative contended that the government and four other defendants have genuinely exercised their power over the cabinet decision to initially postpone and then later cancel the infrastructure project.

“I verily believe and emphasise that the plaintiff’s action is clearly indefensible (tidak boleh dipertahankan) because the plaintiff does not have locus standi (legal standing) to file this action and the defendants’ decision is a public policy decision that cannot be heard by any court.

“Therefore, I verily believe and state that this action is frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of the process of this honourable court,” Terrirudin said in the filing sighted by Malaysiakini.

Besides the government, the other four defendants targeted by the lawsuit are former prime ministers Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Muhyiddin Yassin as well as former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of economy, Mustapa Mohamed, and former transport minister Wee Ka Siong.

The solicitor-general further contended that not only that Hatta has no shred of interest whether directly or indirectly in the matter, but that he has no legal right to file the civil action on behalf of all other Malaysians.

“The plaintiff is not affected by the defendants’ decision to postpone and ultimately cancel the HSR project.

“The plaintiff has no contractual relationship with and is not a party to the MOU (memorandum of understanding) and bilateral agreement signed between the Malaysian and Singaporean governments.

“In any event, the plaintiff did not incur any losses and/or injury from the decision to postpone and ultimately to cancel the implementation of the HSR project,” Terrirudin contended.

Interests of country and citizens

Meanwhile, in his reply filed on May 15, Hatta countered that the issue is one that the civil court is still empowered to hear as it allegedly involved the tort of misfeasance in public office, negligence, omission, misstatement, treachery and breach of trust by the government.

The plaintiff contended that the defendants need to be made responsible for these alleged acts so that this can serve as a lesson to other government leaders not to jeopardise the interests of the country and all its citizens.

Through the lawsuit filed on Dec 30 last year, Hatta sought a court order to revive the project as well as demand that the five defendants cough up RM1 million in compensation to each Malaysian citizen.

The plaintiff was also seeking an order to compel the five defendants to give a written explanation regarding the reasons for the postponement and cancellation of the project.

Hatta came to the limelight previously over a failed legal bid against the government on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) awarding Singapore sovereignty over Pedra Branca (Pulau Batu Puteh). However, the 46-year-old has an ongoing appeal over this at the Court of Appeal.

Malaysia and Singapore first inked the bilateral agreement on HSR on Dec 13, 2016, during the administration of then-prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

The RM110 billion project, which involves 350km of development, was intended to shorten the travel time from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore to only 90 minutes.

Lawyer Mohaji Selamat was acting for Hatta. - Mkini