KUALA LUMPUR, 3 April 2009: The High Court here today allowed Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin’s leave application for a judicial review of the legality of the appointment of Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir as the Menteri Besar of Perak.
Judge Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim in his judgement pronounced that the application filed by Mohammad Nizar was not frivolous or vexatious and that there was a prima facie case to be argued in court.
Abdul Aziz said in their submissions, both counsel Sulaiman Abdullah who represented Mohammad Nizar and Senior Federal Counsel Datuk Kamaludin Said for the Attorney-General’s Office, agreed that the decision by Sultan Azlan Shah in appointing Zambry as the Menteri Besar and not dissolving the state legislative assembly was non-justiciable.
He said Mohammad Nizar in his application had not questioned the decision made by Sultan Azlan Shah but only the legality of the appointment of Zambry as Menteri Besar.
Abdul Aziz fixed 8 April for case management and ordered Sulaiman to file the existing documents and also new ones, among them the affidavit, to the court at the latest by 7 April.
In his application for the judicial review filed on 13 Feb, Mohammad Nizar, who was not present today, wanted the court to declare that he was the lawful menteri besar of Perak and also an injunction to prevent Zambry from carrying out the menteri besar’s duties.
He had contended that he was the lawful menteri besar under the Perak constitution because he had advised the sultan to dissolve the state assembly, not resigned from the post and neither was a no-confidence motion passed against him in the assembly.
Outside the courtroom, Sulaiman told reporters the question of Mohammad Nizar going against Sultan Azlan Shah did not arise as Mohammad Nizar had never questioned the sultan’s powers.
Kamaludin, when asked about the decision, said he would wait for further instructions from Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail whether to make an application for him to be an intervenor during the hearing of the case or file an appeal.— Bernama
