Federal Court Grants Pkr Leave To Appeal Zuraida S 99pct Discount

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The Federal Court today granted PKR leave to appeal against a Court of Appeal decision to reduce the bond payment owed by its former vice-president Zuraida Kamaruddin from RM10 million to RM100,000.
The leave application was allowed by a panel of judges including Nallini Pathmanathan, Nordin Hassan, and Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera.
The appeal will centre on a single question of law, which is:
If Party A signs a financial agreement promising to pay an amount of money to Party B if a certain event happens - and also agrees in writing that the amount is fair because it reflects the value A got from B - can the court still step in and question if the amount is fair or reasonable, especially if the relationship between A and B is unusual or complicated?
On Dec 11 last year, the appellate court’s three-judge bench led by Judge See Mee Chun upheld the High Court’s ruling that Zuraida (above) had breached the bond but reduced the quantum payment from RM10 million to RM100,000.
Previously, on June 23, 2023, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled in favour of PKR and ordered Zuraida, who is the former Ampang MP, to pay RM10 million following the bond’s terms. The presiding judge, Akhtar Tahir, held that the bond was a valid and binding contract.
The lawsuit was initiated in 2020 by PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, on behalf of the party, claiming Zuraida had violated the terms of a bond she signed before contesting in the 14th general election in 2018.
Under the bond, Zuraida was required to pay PKR RM10 million to the party within seven days if she resigned from PKR, joined another political party, or became an independent representative after being elected on the party’s ticket.
In her defence, Zuraida contended that she was forced to sign the bond with the party to be able to stand for election as a candidate in the general election under the PKR banner.
In today’s proceeding, PKR was represented by lawyers Ranjit Singh, William Leong, Navpreet Singh, Sakina Siraj, Chew Chun Man, and Liew Hong Wei, while Zuraida was represented by counsels Azhar Azizan Harun, Nurul Najwa Zainuddin, and Firdaus Shaik Alauddin.
- Bernama

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