Badrul Hisham Abdullah remains the Port Klang assemblyman after the High Court here today ruled that the Selangor Speaker had unlawfully declared the Umno man’s seat vacant.
Datuk Teng Chang Khim declared on January 19 that Badrul Hisham was no longer a member of the state assembly for being absent from its proceedings without valid reason for six months from July 16 last year.
Badrul Hisham’s lawyer, Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin, today argued that Teng had erred when calculating the six-month period of absence from July as there was no state assembly sitting then.
Firoz Hussein said the first-term Speaker should have begun calculating from the November 8 sitting, which was the first sitting Badrul Hisham was absent from.
“He computed it from the period in July when YB Badrul was actually present and that is actually a very unusual and bizarre interpretation of the (state) constitution,” he said.
Judge Datuk Zaleha Yusof made the decision after rejecting Teng’s argument that he could not be sued as Speaker.
Teng had said in his affidavit-of-reply that his decision as Speaker could not be challenged in court as both federal and state laws supported the doctrine of separation of powers between the state legislative assembly and courts.
He had pointed out that he was granted immunity from being sued as Speaker by Article 72 of the Federal Constitution and Article 77 of the Selangor Constitution, and asked that Badrul Hisham’s suit be dismissed as it had no legal basis.
Badrul Hisham’s lawyer, however, argued today that parliamentary immunity did not apply in this instance as Teng’s decision to declare the Port Klang seat vacant had not been made during state assembly proceedings.
“The decision here is completely consistent with the Federal Court’s rulings in the past on what parliamentary immunity consists of,” Firoz Hussein said.
Zaleha also ordered Teng to pay Badrul Hisham RM40,000 in costs.
Badrul Hisham said he was thankful for the court’s decision today as his constituents have the right to have their chosen representative serve them.
“My victory today is a victory for the people of Port Klang,” he said.
Teng was represented by Nur Ashikin Abdul Rahim, who chose not to take part in the hearing for reasons unknown.
Badrul Hisham filed a suit against Teng and the Election Commission (EC) at the Shah Alam High Court on January 25 in a bid to keep his Port Klang seat after Teng declared it vacant following the assemblyman’s absence.
Article 69 of the Selangor Constitution grants the Speaker the power to declare an assemblyman’s seat vacant if the latter has been absent from sittings for a period of six months without the Speaker’s leave.
Teng had said Badrul Hisham last attended a state assembly sitting on July 15 last year and failed to attend any of the six sittings held from November 8 to 15 to discuss the state budget.
The Speaker said he did not receive written notification from Badrul Hisham regarding his absence until three weeks after the budget meeting was over, when a letter simply dated November 2010 was handed to him.
In the letter, Badrul Hisham explained that he suffered from long-term health problems and had been away in Pahang seeking traditional medical treatment during his absence from state assembly proceedings.
Teng then wrote back to Badrul Hisham rejecting his excuse before informing the EC about the vacancy three days later and calling for a by-election to be fixed.
The Port Klang assemblyman was subsequently barred from the emergency sitting convened on January 24 to amend the Selangor Constitution.
Badrul Hisham, who won the Port Klang seat as a PKR candidate in Election 2008, left the party in October 2009 to become an independent assemblyman before joining Umno in May last year.
comments
Judge Datuk Zaleha Yusof made the decision after rejecting Teng’s argument that he could not be sued as Speaker.High time this judge must go back to Law School .
Seriously this judges is so despicable and Moronic that Malaysians have no more faith in our legal system. And that stupid frog should eat sh#t and die!
No one should be surprised! Even the kids in the kindergarten had predicted the outcome of this verdict once the matter was handed over to the Courts, just like Kota Seputeh in Kedah, just like the Allah appeal by the Christian community!
Sickening is the position of the judiciary!
Vote Pakatan Rakyat! Selamatkan Malaysia!
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