KUALA LUMPUR (May 4): The High Court here today rejected incumbent Batu member of parliament Tian Chua’s legal action against the Election Commission (EC), which meant he would not be defending the seat. Tian Chua said he will appeal the High Court's decision.
Justice Datuk Nordin Hassan said the court had no jurisdiction to hear the matter or to determine the validity of the returning officer (RO) Anwar Mohd Zain’s decision in rejecting Tian Chua’s nomination papers.
He said the jurisdiction to hear the case lay with the election judge under Section 33 of the Election Offences Act 1954.
Nordin in his judgment said the applicant (Tian Chua) should have filed the suit by way of an election petition and not by an originating summons.
He said the originating summons filed by Tian Chua whose real name is Chua Tian Chan, to challenge the rejection of his nomination papers by the first respondent, Anwar ought to be before an election judge as required under Article 118 Federal Constitution.
“No election to the House of Representatives or to the Legislative Assembly of a State shall be called in question, except by an election petition presented to the High Court having jurisdiction where the election was held,” he said.
Nordin said Regulation 7(1) of the Elections (Conduct of Elections) Regulations 1981 also provided remedy to any person aggrieved by the decision of the RO to present the election petition on his decision.
“Therefore, I dismiss an originating summons by the applicant with no order as to costs,” he said.
The judge made the decision after allowing a preliminary objection raised by the EC and Anwar against the originating summons brought by Tian Chua who is PKR vice-president.
Tian Chua, 55, filed the originating summons last April 30, naming Anwar, 56, and EC as first and second respondent respectively, seeking a court declaration that he was entitled to be nominated and to contest for the seat according to Article 48(1)(e) of the Federal Constitution.
His nomination was rejected by the RO on the basis of the RM2,000 fine imposed on him by the Shah Alam High Court which on March 2, this year allowed his appeal against sentence for insulting the modesty of a police officer.
He was fined RM3,000 by the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court in 2014 for the offence.
Tian Chua, in his application, pointed out that he was allowed to contest in the 13th general election despite the RM2,000 fine.
Speaking to reporters later, he disclosed that he would file an appeal over today’s decision.
Counsel Datuk Gurdial Singh Nijar represented Tian Chua while senior federal counsel Alice Loke Yee Ching, Suzana Atan, Shamsul Bolhassan and Azizan Md Arshad represented the two respondents.