KOTA BARU: The High Court here has dismissed Gerakan’s application to refer the constitutionality of Kelantan’s Syariah Criminal Code to the Federal Court.
Judge Datuk Azman Abdullah, in dismissing the application yesterday, said the suit was premature as it was filed before the Kelantan legislative assembly passed the enactment.
Applicants Tuan Mat Tuan Wik, Soh Hoon Lee and Chung Mon Sie, all of whom reside in the state and are believed to be Gerakan members, filed the application on March 18.
The following day, all 44 assemblymen voted in favour of the Syariah Criminal Code II Enactment 1993 (Amendment 2015).
Lawyer Andy Yong, who represented the applicants, said the Kelantan government, in its application to strike out the suit, only raised the issue that the High Court did not have the jurisdiction to hear the case.
“However, the judge pointed out that the issue was premature [and] never brought up by the Kelantan government during submission,” he told The Malaysian Insider.
Yong said he would obtain legal consultation on how to proceed as there were a number of options available.
“We have a month to file an appeal to the Court of Appeal or file a fresh application.”
The applicants first filed an originating summons on March 18, the same day the enactment was tabled in the state assembly.
However, on March 25, the applicants filed a fresh application to get the High Court to refer the constitutional challenge of hudud to the Federal Court.
The application, made under Section 84 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964, is to get the apex court to decide on whether hudud could be implemented under the present constitutional scheme.
Kelantan state legal adviser Shahidani Abdul Aziz said the applicants should have first applied to the Federal Court instead of the High Court in seeking to challenge the constitutionality of the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code.
On March 19, the assemblymen, comprising 31 from PAS, 12 from Umno and one from PKR, voted in favour of the bill after only two days of debate. — The Malaysian Insider
This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on May 8, 2015.