Appeals Court: Redelineation exercise not subject to judicial review

PUTRAJAYA: Two DAP MPs from Perak lost their appeal against a High Court decision disallowing their application for a judicial review of the Election Commission’s proposed recommendations for a redelineation exercise in their constituencies.

Court of Appeal judge Justice Mohd Zawawi Salleh dismissed the appeal by Ipoh Barat MP M. Kulasegaran and Ipoh Timur MP Thomas Su Keong Siong.

“We are of the opinion the process of redelineation is not amenable to judicial review,” said Mohd Zawawi, who presided with Justices Abdul Rahman Sebli and Kamardin Hashim who upheld the Ipoh High Court decision.

In May, Ipoh High Court judge Justice Che Ruzima Ghazali refused to grant them leave to initiate the application for judicial review, ruling that the application was frivolous and vexatious.

Lawyer A. Surendra Ananth, who represented the two MPs, submitted that the appellate court could hear his clients’ judicial review.

He said the Election Commission had a duty to give reasons for its decision to redraw the electoral boundaries.

Senior federal counsel Datuk Amarjeet Singh argued that the matter was not amenable to judicial review because the EC’s proposed redelineation was not final and did not give legal effect.

He said the final decision of the EC’s proposal was vested in Parliament, adding that it was advisory in nature.

Outside the court, the two MPs told reporters that the court’s decision meant that the redelineation exercise was not subject to a judicial review.

Kulasegaran said they would discuss whether to raise the matter in the Federal Court. — Bernama