Court denies PN's stay of suspension bid, grants leave for judicial review

 

Perikatan Nasional has failed to secure an interim stay against the Registrar of Societies’ (ROS) directive to suspend all its activities.

However, the Kuala Lumpur High Court has granted the opposition pact permission to proceed with its judicial review challenge.

The decision means the suspension notice dated Sept 22 remains in force, pending the court's hearing of PN's application to challenge ROS’ action.

High Court judge Azizan Md Arshad set Oct 22 to hear the stay application inter partes, allowing arguments from both sides before a decision is reached.

The ruling follows submissions by PN’s counsel Ivanpal Singh Grewal, and senior federal counsel Nurhaffiza Azizan, who represented the respondents.

PN filed the judicial review on Oct 5 through the legal firm Messrs Siddiq Azani & Co to challenge ROS' decision to freeze all coalition activities.

Among the applicants are PN secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan, alongside the secretaries-general of its component parties, including Saifuddin Abdullah (Wawasan Negara), Sazmi Miah (Pejuang), Wong Chia Zhen (Gerakan), and Satish Kumar (MIPP).

ROS director-general Zulfikar Ahmad and Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail were named as respondents.

On Sept 24, Takiyuddin confirmed receiving a 30-day show-cause notice from the ROS regarding the potential deregistration of the coalition.

Describing the move as the result of a "malicious agenda", Takiyuddin (below) stated that the coalition would take immediate legal steps to protect its registration.

"PN takes note of the ROS decision but disagrees with the grounds of the ruling. We are taking immediate steps through available legal channels to uphold our founding objectives and political agenda, which are supported by our members and voters," he said in a statement.

"PN does not rule out the possibility that this action is the product of a malicious (mala fide) agenda and political pressure aimed at victimising PN from both internal and external quarters."

Malacca polls

Meanwhile, in documents supporting an expedited hearing, PN's legal team warned of the suspension's immediate impact on preparations for the upcoming Malacca state election.

According to the submissions, if the notice is not stayed or set aside before nomination day, PN candidates face being barred from contesting under the coalition’s name and logo.

The documents further noted that the restriction severely hinders PN’s ability to campaign under its official banner.

With the interim stay denied, PN must now await the outcome of the inter partes hearing on Oct 22 to determine if the court will grant the requested relief.

The Election Commission has set Nov 14 as polling day for the 16th Malacca state election, with candidate nominations on Oct 31. - Mkini