Penang Govt to challenge Home Ministry's declaration on PPS

The DAP-led Penang government plans to challenge the declaration by the Home Ministry that Penang Voluntary Patrol Unit (PPS) is an illegal organisation.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng claimed that it was unlawful to declare the PPS an illegal organisation without any communication, proper investigation and respect for natural justice.

He said the Home Minister was in flagrant disregard of tenets of natural justice namely that a person cannot be condemned unheard.

"We will consult with our legal team to initiate legal proceedings to seek a judicial review on the declaration made by the Home Minister," he told reporters after chairing the weekly State Exco meeting here today.

Home Ministry Secretary-General Datuk Seri Mohamad Khalid Shariff yesterday declared that PPS is an illegal organisation under Section 5(1) of the Societies Act 1966 and ordered all accounts, assets, and properties of the Penang PPS to be handed over or wound up by the Malaysian Insolvency Department.

In August, 157 PPS members were detained as the police had declared PPS to be illegal organisation in that they were not registered with the Registrar of Societies. All of them are currently on police bail.