Immigration DG can bar persons from travelling overseas — Appeals court

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal yesterday ruled that the Immigration director-general has the power to bar Malaysian citizens from travelling overseas without giving any reason.

Justice Tan Sri Idrus Harun said personal liberty guaranteed in Article 5 of the Federal Constitution did not include the citizen's right to travel abroad.

“A passport is a privilege accorded to citizens by the government and not a citizen's right to travel abroad.

“It ( passport) remains the property of the Malaysian government and the government could cancel the travel document,” he said. Idrus was one of the three judges presiding on the appellate court bench which dismissed Petaling Jaya Utara Member of Parliament Tony Pua's appeal to quash the Immigration Department director-general's decision to stop him from travelling overseas.

In his decision, Idrus said the term personal liberty under Article 5 was only confined to mounting a challenge against the authorities for unlawful detention.

He also said that Pua did not have the right to be heard under

A passport is a privilege accorded to citizens by the government and not a citizen’s right to travel abroad. It (passport) remains the property of the Malaysian government and the government could cancel the travel document. Justice Tan Sri Idrus Harun

the Immigration Act 1959 and the Immigration director-general had no duty to give a reason for the travel ban.

“The appellant's passport is not withdrawn. The ban is not perpetual,” he said.

Justices Datuk Mohd Zawawi Salleh and Datuk Kamardin Hashim were the other two judges.

In July last year, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur dismissed Pua's judicial review application to quash the Immigration directorgeneral's decision to stop him from travelling overseas.

Pua, 44, claimed he was prevented from leaving the country at klia2 on July 2, 2015.

The DAP national publicity secretary said he was supposed to go to Yogyakarta that day using his passport, which is valid until April 23, 2020.

Although the travel ban on Pua was lifted on May 20, last year, he pursued the appeal to seek damages and wanted the court to determine the limits of the director-general's power. Mohd Zawawi, chairing the panel, urged Pua's lawyer Gobind Singh Deo to bring the matter to the Federal Court for determination of constitutional issues involving Article 5.

The court also ordered no cost to be paid to the government as it was of the view that the matter was a public interest case.

After the verdict, Gobind Singh told reporters that he would file an application for leave to appeal within 30 days as there were serious legal questions that needed to be raised. — Bernama