KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 5): The High Court today endorsed a notice by the Registrar of Societies (RoS) to validate the dismissal of Malay Chamber of Commerce Malaysia (DPMM) president Rizal Faris Mohideen Abdul Kader.

With this decsion by Justice Datuk Seri Mariana Yahya, Syed Hussein Alhabshee is recognised as the chamber's president.

Mariana endorsed the notice issued by RoS yesterday, which stated that the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) held on Nov 22 last year was valid and in accordance with the decision made by the chamber’s executive council (MED) meeting a day earlier.

The notice also stated all decisions made in the EGM, including the dismissal of Rizal Faris, were valid, while all decisions made during the annual general meeting (AGM) on the same day, including the dismissal of 18 members of MED, were invalid.

The RoS notice had also stated that the AGM held on June 15 was in accordance with the chamber’s constitution and all decisions made during the AGM, including the election of Syed Hussein as the new president, were valid.

The RoS had also decided that the allocation of RM5 million by the Ministry of Finance, which was directly channelled into the account of Yayasan DPMM Penang without MED’s approval, contravened the body’s constitution.

Following today's decision, Syed Hussein's lawyer Balan Nair Thamodaran said the issue of which faction is the rightful officer bearers of DPMM, has been put to  rest.

“After one year of taking this matter to the court, the court has today consistently endorsed the RoS decision that the 18 members whom Rizal Faris said had been removed are valid members of the MED," he told reporters.

Balan said Syed Hussein's team will write to Rizal Faris, asking him to allow the rightful committee members to administrate the chamber.

"If that fails, we will have to resolve the matter in the court again,” he added.

In July, the RoS issued a show-cause letter to Rizal Faris requesting him to explain why the chamber should not be deregistered given his various breaches in conduct.

Syed Hussein then filed a judicial review against RoS on June 28.

The AGM held on June 15, resulted in Syed Hussein's election, along with other new office bearers. This was however disputed by Rizal Faris' faction in July.

However, the RoS letter yesterday recognised Syed Hussein and his committee members as the true office bearers.

With regards to the RM5 million, Syed Hussein's group had claimed that former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had given the amount to DPMM before the 14th general election, and was wrongly deposited into Yayasan DPMM Penang.

Lawyer Ranjini Suppiah also appeared for Syed Hussein today, while RoS was represented by Senior Federal Counsel Aisyaf Falina Abdullah.