Federal Court upholds decision on redelineation

PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court has upheld a Court of Appeal decision that there will be no judicial review of the Election Commission’s (EC) proposed redelineation exercise in Malacca and Perak, following an appeal by seven voters from the Kota Melaka and Bukit Katil parliamentary constituencies and two Perak MPs.

The group had challenged the EC’s proposed redelineation of certain parliamentary and state constituencies the two states.

The three-man bench, led by Chief Justice Tun Raus Md Sharif, delivered a unanimous decision.

Raus said the questions posed by the plaintiff did not meet the requirements of Section 96 of the Courts of Judicator Act 1964 and opined that the EC had adhered and complied with the principles applied by the 13th Schedule of the Federal Constitution.

The bench also agreed with the arguments of senior federal counsel Datuk Amarjeet Singh, who represented the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

“We dismiss the appeal with no order as to costs,” Raus said.

Other judges on the panel were Tan Sri Azhar Mohamed and Tan Sri Aziah Ali.

In the judicial review application, the seven voters – Chan Tsu Chong, 29; Neo Lih Xin, 31; Azura Talib, 40; Lim Kah Sheng, 31; Norhizam Hassan Baktee, 51; Amir Khairudin, 53, and Amran Atan, 47, – and Ipoh Barat MP M. Kulasegaran and Ipoh Timur MP Thomas Su Keong Siong sought a declaration that the proposed redelineation following a 2016 study was unconstitutional.

They claimed it was inconsistent with Clause 113 and the 13th Schedule of the Constitution, and therefore null and void.

They alleged that the EC had caused a glaring discrepancy in the number of voters in certain constituencies in Malacca, especially the Kota Melaka parliamentary constituency and Taboh Naning state constituency, as well as in Perak.