Emergency: Lawyer fails to refer constitutional question to Federal Court

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here today rejected a lawyer's application to refer a constitutional question to the Federal Court pertaining to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's power to declare a state of emergency.

Federal counsel Mohammad Sallehuddin Md Ali said the court rejected the application on the grounds that Dr Syed Iskandar Syed Jaafar Al Mahdzar did not meet the legal requirements to refer the constitutional question to the Federal Court.

"The court then set June 23 for case management," he said when contacted after the proceedings of the case conducted via a video conference before Judge Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh.

The constitutional question is whether Act A514 which amended Article 150 by adding clauses (8) and (9) is in violation of the Federal Constitution and is therefore void and invalid.

In November 2020, Syed Iskandar filed the preliminary suit naming the Malaysian government as the defendant, seeking the court to determine among others, whether based on Articles 40 and 150 of the Federal Constitution, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has full discretion not to declare an emergency even if the Prime Minister or Cabinet advises otherwise.

The plaintiff also questioned whether Act A514 which amended Article 150 by adding clauses (8) and (9) is in violation of the Federal Constitution and is therefore void and invalid.

On Oct 25, 2020, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah said there was no necessity for an emergency to be declared in the country as he felt the government under the Prime Minister would continue to implement policies and enforcement to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic effectively.

-- BERNAMA