GEORGE TOWN – The Penang High Court has fixed March 3 to hear amendments in the case relating to four assemblymen who filed for an injunction against the Penang assembly on a motion to vacate their seats.
Judicial commissioner Azizan Arshad set the date after listening to submissions from lawyer Chetan Jethwani, who represented the assemblymen, and lawyer Surendra Anath who represented the Penang assembly and Speaker Datuk Law Choo Kiang.
Earlier, Chetan had urged the court to allow the injunction to prevent the Penang assembly from tabling the motion to vacate the seats until the appeal is heard.
In his submission, he requested for time to file the amendments to their originating summons following the Federal Court ruling on August 3 that Article 14A of the Penang constitution enacted in 2012 was constitutional.
“If the court is not able to allow the injunction, I hope the court can stop the Penang speaker from informing the Election Commission after the motion to vacate the seats is tabled, debated and passed,” he said.
However, Surendra argued that the assembly duties must be carried out and if there are parties who are not satisfied, only then can the case be taken to court.
“Therefore, the motion must be tabled, debated, and voted (on) before the decision is challenged in court and not otherwise,” he said.
On January 20, the high court dismissed the lawsuits by four Penang assemblymen against the Penang assembly and speaker Law over a motion introduced in October 2020 for them to vacate their seats.
However, the four assemblymen – Sg Acheh assemblyman Zulkifli Ibrahim, Dr Afif Bahardin (Seberang Jaya), Khaliq Mehtab Mohd Ishaq (Bertam), and Zolkifly Md Lazim (Telok Bahang) – filed an appeal against the decision at the Court of Appeal on January 25.
On December 16 last year, Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat dismissed the leave applications by the four assemblymen to challenge the competency of the state assembly to pass an anti-hopping law.
The four assemblymen had filed the suit in 2020 to challenge the constitutionality of Article 14A(1) of the Penang constitution, and to stop their seats from being declared vacant, pursuant to Article 14A(1).
Article 14A states that an assemblyman shall vacate their seat if having been elected as a candidate of a political party, they resign or are expelled from a party, or having been elected otherwise than as a candidate of a political party, they join a political party. – Bernama, March 1, 2023
