KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has set Oct 22 to deliver its decision on the application for leave by former Perak speaker V. Sivakumar and six others to compel the Election Commission (EC) to hold by-elections in three of the state’s constituencies.
High Court (Appellate and Special Powers) Justice Lau Bee Lan set the date in her chambers yesterday after hearing submissions clarifying the powers of the Speaker.
On March 10, Sivakumar filed a suit against Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu (Changkat Jering), Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (Behrang) and Hee Yit Foong (Jelapang).
He said the House had received resignation letters from Mohd Osman and Jamaluddin on Feb 1, and from Hee, two days later.
Sivakumar wants the three assemblymen to show the grounds on which they were continuing to carry out the responsibilities, functions and duties of assemblymen.
He is also asking the court to quash the commission’s decision not to hold by-elections for the three state seats and to issue an order compelling it to call for by-elections.
Sivakumar and six others are applying to the court for leave to declare the Behrang, Changkat Jering and Jelapang seats vacant after the assemblymen quit their respective parties.
The other applicants are three Pakatan former executive councillors and three voters from the constituencies.
Yesterday, lawyer Razlan Hadri, one of the counsel acting for Sivakumar and others, said the judge had heard clarifications on whether the Speaker has the right to accept the resignation letters from the trio or whether he only had to tender their letters to the commission.
“It was on whether the Speaker is a merely a postman or otherwise,” he said.
Razlan said the defence team had tried to convince the judge that Sivakumar had the right to come to court to enquire how the EC had come to the conclusion that the three state seats were not vacant.
“To us, it is an irrational decision,” he added.
No comments:
Post a Comment