Lawyer’s suit challenging legality of Anwar’s royal pardon struck out

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal yesterday struck out a lawsuit filed by a lawyer questioning the legality of the royal pardon granted to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for his sodomy conviction.

In striking out the lawsuit by Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz, the court allowed the appeals by Anwar and the Pardons Board against a High Court’s dismissal of their applications to strike out the lawsuit.

A three-member bench of the Court of appeal, comprising Datuk Has Zanah Mehat, Datuk Indera Mohd Sofian Abd Razak and Datuk Lee Heng Cheong, in allowing the appeals by Anwar and the Pardons Board, held that the claims made by Mohd Khairul Azam against the appellants were obviously unsustainable as he did not disclose any reasonable cause of action against them.

In the court’s decision, Justice Has Zanah who led the bench said Mohd Khairul had no right to question the clemency or the advice given by the Pardons Board to the Yang-di Pertuan Agong in respect to the granting of the pardon.

“We find the process of clemency and granting of pardon by the Yang-di Pertuan Agong to the appellant (Anwar) does not in any manner or way attack the respondent’s (Mohd Khairul) personal or legal or any right or interest,” she said.

She said a decision made in pursuant to the exercise of royal pardon prerogative cannot be varied or confirmed by the court and hence it is not justiciable.

The power of pardon is preserved under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution, she said, adding that the power was not limited on just the sentence but also on the conviction. — Bernama