PUTRAJAYA – Gombak MP Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali won his appeal in the Court of Appeal today to strike out a lawsuit which was filed against him by 10 voters from his constituency for alleged deceit and breach of fiduciary duty.
A three-member panel comprising justice Datuk Yaacob Md Sam, Datuk Lee Heng Cheong and Datuk Hashim Hamzah said the voters’ claim was unsustainable and bound to fail.
“There is no necessity for the suit to proceed for full trial.
Justice Yaacob, who delivered the court’s unanimous decision, allowed Azmin’s appeal to set aside the decision on June 30 last year by the Kuala Lumpur High Court, which disallowed his application to strike out the suit.
“We are of the view that there is an appealable error by the high court judge in disallowing the appellant (Azmin’s) application to strike out the suit warranting appellate intervention,” he said.
The court, however, did not award costs, citing that the case was in the public interest.
The 10 voters filed the suit against Azmin, who is the International Trade and Industry Minister, on November 27, 2020 for alleged deceit and breach of fiduciary duty as their member of Parliament through the “Sheraton Move”, which caused the Pakatan Harapan government to collapse in February the same year.
In their statement of claim, the voters sought, among others, a declaration that Azmin, as the Gombak MP, had breached his fiduciary obligations, deceived them during the election in the constituency and also breached the representation made to them.
They sought damages including aggravated or exemplary damages, interests, costs and other orders deemed fit by the court.
On March 12 last year, Azmin filed an application to strike out the suit claiming that the suit did not disclose a reasonable cause of action and was frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of court process.
He contended that the suit violated his fundamental right to freedom of association as provided under Article 10, Clause (1)(c) of the federal constitution.
In today’s proceedings, conducted virtually, the court heard submissions from Azmin’s lawyer Muhammad Nizamuddin Abdul Hamid and counsel K. Shanmuga, who represented the voters.
Nizamuddin argued that the suit should be struck out as the voters’ claim was bound to fail, as they would not be able to prove that they had voted for Azmin during the 14th general election (GE14).
He also said Azmin did not personally make any representations to his voters during GE14.
He argued instead that the manifesto that was used was prepared by PH in March 2018 for campaigning purposes during GE14.
Nizamuddin also said that the voters’ claim has the effect of restricting his client’s right to freedom of association under Article 10(1)(c) of the federal constitution.
Shanmuga, however, countered saying that the suit should proceed for trial as the voters can prove that they voted for Azmin in GE14 by giving oral evidence in court.
He said the voters’ claim was not based on the manifesto but on the representation made by Azmin to them.
Shanmuga also said that the voters’ claim did not affect Azmin’s right to freedom of association since the claim was not intended to unseat him from his position as MP.
Also representing Azmin was lawyer Nurul Najwa Zanuddin while lawyers Yohendra Nadarajan, Surendra Ananth and Kee Hui Yee also acted for the voters. – Bernama, April 13, 2022
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