Applica on to restrain Shafie dismissed
An applica on for leave for a judicial review to order the Elec on Commission to restrain Par Warisan Sabah president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Haji Apdal from vo ng and/or nominated in any general elec on was dismissed by the High Court here yesterday.
KOTA KINABALU: An application for leave for a judicial review to order the Election Commission (EC) to restrain Parti Warisan Sabah president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Haji Apdal from voting and/or nominated in any general election, including today’s 14th General Election (GE14), was dismissed by the High Court here yesterday.
In his reserved decision, Justice Azhahari Kamal Ramli dismissed the application for leave for a judicial review made by the applicant, Datuk Mohd Ainal Haji Abdul Fattah, and ordered him to pay RM10,000 cost to each party involved in this case.
The verdict was delivered in the judge’s chambers at 11am sharp and the involved parties were seen coming out of the room about 20 minutes later.
When met outside the court, Senior Federal Counsel Andi Razalijaya A. Dadi, who acted for the State Attorney-General of Sabah, said that the leave application was dismissed with costs of RM10,000 to be paid to each party.
When asked by reporters, Andi Razalijaya explained that the leave application was dismissed because of a technicality, as the affidavit in support of the applicant was filed late and was in contravention to Order 53 Rule 3 (2) of the Rules of Court 2012.
He also said that the other ground was that the applicant had no locus standi to file the application.
“The applicant has not shown that he was adversely affected by the allegations against Shafie or by whatever investigations by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission now, so, in particular, in this Order 53 of the same Rules, it was not shown by the applicant that he has passed the test of being adversely affected for a judicial review,” explained Andi Razalijaya.
Apart from that, he said the leave was not granted as it was academic and the court had no jurisdiction on one of the prayers in the leave to vacate the seat and to declare null and void (the seats) for an election (if Shafie wins).
“The court has no jurisdiction because it must be by the Election Court by way of an Election Petition, hence it was frivolous and a vexatious action,” added Andi Razalijaya on the other reason for the court to dismiss the application.
The applicant had on April 17 filed an ex-parte application through Nurul Rafeeqa Marcel Advocates via e-filing naming the Election Commission and 61-yearold Shafie as the first and second respondents respectively.
In his leave application, the applicant, who is an Umno member had sought:
(a) An order of mandamus against the EC to restrain Shafie from voting in any election and/or being nominated for any election and/or being elected in any election conducted by the EC, including the GE14;
(b) An order of prohibition against the EC to disallow the Shafie from voting in any election and being nominated for any election and being elected in any election conducted by the EC, including the GE14;
(c) An order of mandamus to the EC to vacate the seat of Shafie, if Shafie is elected at any election conducted by the EC, including the GE14;
(d) A declaration that the election of Shafie in any election conducted by the EC and/or the nomination of Shafie in any election conducted by the EC is null and void, including the GE14;
(e) Damages against Shafie for alleged abuse of power and unconstitutional action;
(f) A mandatory injunction to Shafie and his servants or agents to make restitution of all monies and funds in the sum of RM7,500,000 allegedly entrusted to Shafie and his servants or agents during his tenure as Minister of Rural and Regional Development in the Federal Cabinet of the Government of Malaysia;
(g) A declaration that Shafie is allegedly liable and/or obliged to make restitution of all monies and funds in the sum of RM7,500,000 allegedly entrusted to Shafie and his servants or agents during his tenure as the said minister;
(h) Costs and any other remedies deemed fit by the court.
Meanwhile, counsel Chung Jiun Dau, who represented Shafie, told reporters that the application to strike out the leave application by Mohd Ainal was allowed by the same court.
According to Chung, the grounds of Shafie’s application, which was filed on April 23, were that the application for leave for judicial review disclosed no reasonable cause of action, is scandalous, frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of the process of the court.
Andi Razalijaya was assisted by Federal Counsel Doreen Patrick, counsel Datuk Douglas Lind acted for Shafie and counsel Marcel Jude Joseph represented Mohd Ainal.
Shafie will be contesting today for the Semporna parliamentary seat, which Shafie won in the 13th general election under the UmnoBN ticket with a 20,905 votes majority against PKR, and also for the Senallang state seat, where he will meet incumbent Dato Seri Nasir Sakaran of Umno-BN in a straight fight.