KUALA LUMPUR (April 1): Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad-led Parti Pejuang Tanah Air has been granted leave by the High Court to challenge the non-registration of the party by the Registrar of Societies (RoS) and the home minister.
Justice Datuk Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid granted leave today and fixed April 15 for case management to give directions on the party’s full merits for its application to be heard.
The matter was confirmed by Pejuang’s counsel Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali with The Edge.
Sabri Othman, meanwhile, appeared for the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC).
Normally in judicial review proceedings, it is not always the case for the merits to be heard directly as leave (permission) has to be gained to ensure that the application is not frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of the court process.
It was reported on March 1 that Pejuang, through its pro tem secretary Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah, had filed the judicial review application to have the party registered.
It named the RoS and the home minister as respondents in its legal challenge.
The party sought to declare that the home minister’s failure to decide on the party’s appeal — made via a letter dated Jan 8 — to be registered is a violation of the RoS statutory duty under Section 18 of the Societies Act 1966.
Amiruddin is also seeking a declaration that the home minister’s violation of its statutory duty to decide on its appeal by rejecting Pejuang’s registration is against legitimate expectations of the party.
It also claimed that it is illogical and mala fide (bad intention) for the minister to violate its constitutional right to freedom of association as guaranteed under Article 10 of the Federal Constitution, he claimed.
He also wants a mandamus order to compel the minister to give a decision on the party’s appeal within seven days and another mandamus order compelling the minister to direct the RoS to register Pejuang. It is also demanding costs of the action and other relief deemed necessary by the court.
Rafique, on the other hand, in his submissions said that Amiruddin had the locus standi (legal standing) to initiate the legal challenge as he as the Member of Parliament (MP) of Kubang Pasu and others had been adversely affected by the RoS decision not to register the party.
He argued that this challenge is not a frivolous application and has merits to argue the case in raising the issue of why the party is not registered.
Besides Pejuang, another organisation, namely the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance’s (MUDA) led by Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, has also encountered problems in registering its party.
