Post by : Meena Ariff

The High Court has scheduled April 29 for a ruling on a judicial review filed by two lawmakers challenging former Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s advice to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to suspend Parliament during the COVID-19 emergency in 2021.

Judge Datuk Aliza Sulaiman also set the same date to decide on two originating summons filed by the Malaysian Bar, Bersih 2.0, and others, which similarly contest the emergency proclamation.

The Federal Court had earlier allowed Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Karim and Perak state assemblyman Abdul Aziz Bari to proceed with the judicial review, remitting the case back to the High Court for a substantive hearing.

Represented by counsel Datuk Dr Gurdial Singh Nijar, the lawmakers argue that the emergency ordinance’s Sections 11, 14, and 15 were unnecessary, irrational, and disproportionate. They contend that the suspension of Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies was unreasonable, especially since other economic activities such as night markets continued to operate during the pandemic.

Dr Gurdial further submitted that the government violated mandatory constitutional provisions under Article 150(3) and Article 150(5), which require emergency ordinances to be tabled and debated in Parliament. According to him, the Parliament must decide on such ordinances.

Meanwhile, Senior Federal Counsel Shamsul Bolhassan, representing the former prime minister and the government, argued that the judicial review is now academic since the Emergency Ordinance expired in August 2021. He noted that Parliament had debated and revoked the ordinance on October 25, 2021, making the current legal challenge redundant.

Shamsul added that court orders against the former prime minister are no longer feasible as he resigned in August 2021. He concluded that the reliefs sought by the applicants had effectively been overtaken by subsequent events.

The applicants are seeking a court declaration that the Cabinet’s decision to advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to promulgate Section 14 of the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance 2021, which led to Parliament’s suspension, was unconstitutional, unlawful, without effect, and beyond legal authority.

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