THE lawyer representing the state in Sabah Law Society’s case for a judicial review of Sabah's revenue claim review case has been removed.
The state government has also retracted all the "misguided statements" made by its appointed lawyer, Tengku Fuad Ahmad, in Putrajaya's appeal against the 40% judicial review decision.
The Sabah Attorney-General’s Chambers filed a notice of a change of lawyer was on May 21.
Sabah Attorney-General Datuk Nor Asiah Mohd Yusof and Sabah government legal adviser Datuk Brendon Soh are taking over the case on behalf of the Sabah government.
Nor Asiah confirmed that Tengku Fuad has ceased to represent the Sabah government,
"The state government retracts all submissions made in the Court of Appeal on the issue of the locus standi of the Sabah Law Society, as this was not advanced nor submitted in the High Court by the state government," Nor Asiah said after case management today.
“Furthermore, the state government retracts the submission made in the Court of Appeal referring to Articles 112C and 112D of the Federal Constitution as being 'aspirational' and not a mandatory or absolute right of the state of Sabah."
The Court of Appeal has acknowledged the retractions. The court set June 18 for a decision.
Putrajaya is appealing against a High Court decision granting leave to the SLS to carry out a judicial review on Sabah’s 40% revenue entitlement. The Sabah government was allowed to become an intervener in the case
In the filing of the case in June 2022, the Sabah government was named as one of the defendants in the judicial review.
Fuad had allegedly described Sabah's 40% revenue entitlement as “aspirational” and not an “absolute right” in the appeal hearing last week.
This caused public backlash.
Fuad was appointed by the Sabah attorney-general to represent the state in the SLS review case in 2022. – May 24, 2024.
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