Sept 27 Hearing On Bid To Revive Suit Against Azmin

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The Federal Court has set a date to hear arguments in support of an application by Gombak voters to allow an appeal against the dismissal of their suit in April.PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court is to hear an application by Gombak voters seeking to revive a suit against their MP, Azmin Ali, for alleged breach of fiduciary duty.
The applicants’ lawyer, N Yohendra, said the Federal Court had set Sept 27 to hear their application before deciding whether their appeal will go to a full hearing.
The voters have set out nine questions of law to support their application, which the court will examine in deciding whether to hear the appeal to set aside an appeal court decision which dismissed their suit against Azmin.
Among the questions was whether an action for deceit or breach of fiduciary duties can be maintained against an elected MP or assemblyman.
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Another question was whether an elected representative’s rights to freedom of association under the Federal Constitution were subject to his fiduciary duties to the voters.
Applicants for leave to appeal must convince the court that the questions of law are novel, are of public importance and are being raised for the first time.
The suit against Azmin was filed in November 2020 by 10 voters in the Gombak constituency. They contended that Azmin’s actions in the “Sheraton Move”, which resulted in the fall of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government in March 2020, had breached the promises he made to voters in the 2018 election campaign.
The voters said Azmin had asked his constituents to vote for PKR to ensure a competent and stable government and represented himself as seeking to oust Barisan Nasional (BN) and to free Malaysia of corrupt officials.
However, his representations “were merely to deceive the voters to support and vote for him so (that) he can be an MP,” the voters said.
After the PH government collapsed, Azmin joined the Perikatan Nasional government which included BN, and persons that he himself had acknowledged were “credibly accused of corrupt practices”, the suit said.
Azmin applied to the High Court to strike out the suit. His application was denied in July last year but the decision was overturned on appeal in April.
The Court of Appeal allowed his application to annul the suit and held that the suit was “obviously unsustainable and bound to fail” and that there was no need for the suit to go to a full hearing.
Azmin is currently the international trade and industry minister in Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s Cabinet. He is also a Bersatu Supreme Council member. - FMT

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