Tian Chua to make representation to A-G

PUTRAJAYA: PKR vice-president Tian Chua, who could not contest in the 14th General Election (GE14), will make a representation to the Attorney-General’s Chambers over his status on whether he would be qualified to stand for future elections.

The former Batu member of parliament’s nomination papers were rejected by the returning officer on April 28 because of the RM2,000 fine imposed on him in a 2017 court case.

His counsel, Datuk Dr Gurdial Singh Nijar, informed the Court of Appeal’s three-man panel yesterday that he would be writing to the Attorney-General Tommy Thomas for clarification on whether a member of parliament could be disqualified from contesting the election after being fined RM2,000 under Article 28(1)(e) of the Federal Constitution.

Following this, Gurdial requested for an adjournment of the appeal’s hearing pending the representation.

Senior federal counsel Datuk Amarjeet Singh, representing returning officer Anwar Mohd Zain and the Election Commission (EC), did not object.

Justice Datuk Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, who led the panel, granted the adjournment.

He said Tian Chua’s application to amend his originating summons and his appeal would be dealt by the Court of Appeal panel in the next hearing date.

The other two judges were Datuk P. Nalini and Datuk Mary Lim Thiam Suan.

On May 4, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed Tian Chua’s legal action that he had filed to challenge the EC’s decision to disqualify him from contesting the Batu parliamentary seat in GE14, prompting him to lodge an appeal to the Court of Appeal.

High Court judge Datuk Nordin Hassan held the court did not have jurisdiction to hear the matter, or to determine the validity of the returning officer’s decision in rejecting Tian Chua’s nomination papers.

He had allowed EC’s preliminary objection and found that Tian Chua’s matter was an election dispute, and that he should file by way of an election petition and not an originating summons.

The returning officer rejected Tian Chua’s nomination papers on the basis of the RM2,000 fine imposed on him by the Shah Alam High Court, which on March 2, allowed his appeal against sentence for insulting the modesty of a police officer.

Tian Chua, whose real name is Chua Tian Chang, 54, was fined RM3,000 by the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court in 2014 for the offence.

Outside the court, Gurdial said there were three court decisions, including a Federal Court decision, which stated that a person was qualified to contest the election if the person was fined RM2,000.