Court Orders Govt Dr M And 9 Others To File Affidavits

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Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Mukhriz Mahathir are among the 10 who have been accepted as intervenors in the case. (Bernama pic)KUALA LUMPUR: Eleven parties, including Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the government, have been instructed to file affidavits and submissions over a lawyer’s application for the Federal Court to determine whether the emergency proclamation by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong can be challenged.
The 10 had been allowed to be intervenors in lawyer Syed Iskandar Syed Jaafar al-Mahdzar’s lawsuit against the government over the declaration of emergency.
Counsel R Kengadharan, who is representing Syed Iskandar, said High Court deputy registrar Firdaus Sidqi Sharil Azli gave the directive after consulting High Court judge Mariana Yahya.
“All 11 have been given up to April 16 to file their affidavits and submissions,” he told FMT following a case management yesterday.
He said Syed Iskandar, the plaintiff, had been given until May 17 to reply to the affidavits and submissions.
The court has fixed another case management on May 31.
Kengadharan said the transfer of the case to the Federal Court to answer questions of law posed by Syed Iskandar would take priority over the government’s attempt to strike out the suit.
Syed Iskandar, who filed the application in January, wants the apex court to determine whether Parliament is said to be sitting only when the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara are assembled together and carrying out their business.
Syed Iskandar also asked whether an amendment to Article 150, by adding clauses 8 and 9, was in violation of the basic structure of the Federal Constitution.
On Jan 11, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah declared a state of emergency until Aug 1, or until an earlier date if the number of daily cases goes down, to curb the spread of Covid-19.
The Attorney-General’s Chambers has filed an application to strike out the suit on grounds that it was frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of court process.
The other intervenors are Mukhriz Mahathir (Jerlun MP), Amiruddin Hamzah (Kubang Pasu MP), Shahruddin Md Salleh (Sri Gading MP), senator Marzuki Yahya, lawyers Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz, Malcolm Fernandez, Nazirah Abdul Ghani, Association of Muslim Lawyers and Centre for a Better Tomorrow. - FMT

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