University students lose judicial review

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court yesterday rejected an application by five students of Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) for leave for judicial review of the revocation of their appointment as UPNM Military Training Academy cadet officers.

Justice Datuk Azizah Nawawi made the ruling after allowing a preliminary objection by the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

The judge ordered Ahmad Shafwan Berdal, Muhammad Akmal Akif Alias, Mohamad Syazwan Musa, Muhamad Ashraf Abdullah and Muhammad Amirul Asraff Mala to pay RM1,000 cost each, to the training academy, UPNM, Ministry of Defence and Malaysian Government, who are the respondents.

The five applicants had earlier been charged in court here for voluntarily causing hurt to fellow cadet officer Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain to allegedly get him to confess to stealing a laptop computer.

They are accused of committing the offence in room 03-05, Block Jebat hostel at UPNM between 2.30 am and 5.30 am on May 21, 2017 and in room 04-10 at the same hostel between 1.30 am and 4.30 am on May 22, 2017.

On Feb 26, 2018, the AGC filed the preliminary objection on the argument that the Military Training Academy and Malaysian Defence Ministry should not have been named as respondents in the judicial review application.

The AGC contended that the applicants were wrong in naming UPNM and the government as respondents because both parties were not involved in deciding the appointment of cadet officers, which was under the jurisdiction of the Armed Forces Council.

The five submitted their judicial review application on Feb 12 through their lawyer Datuk Hazizah Kassim. The respondents were represented by federal counsel M. Kogilambigai.

The students who are currently under suspension had sought a certiorari order to invalidate the respondents’ decision dated Oct 19, 2017 to revoke their appointment and termination of service in the Malaysian Armed Forces.

The applicants claimed the decision made by the respondents was premature, null and void and contravened the university’s education and training agreement dated May 12, 2014.

They also applied for a declaration that the government’s claim for compensation of RM29,954 for their alleged breach of the agreement was unlawful. The applicants further sought a mandamus order to compel the respondents to pay their salaries from July 2017 to the date of suspension.

They also applied for a mandamus order for their reappointment as UPNM cadet officers. - Bernama