PUTRAJAYA: Sungai Siput Member of Parliament Dr Michael Jeyakumar cannot use legal processes to question the disbursement of the special constituency allocation funds for his constituency.
This follows a unanimous decision by a five-man panel of the Federal Court here yesterday that distribution of the allocation is under the executive’s management prerogative and policy consideration which was not within the purview of the court.
Court of Appeal President Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif chairing the panel said the courts were in no position to evaluate the qualifications in Jeyakumar’s application for the allocation or decide on the policy made by the executive.
He said government policies emanate after considering a number of technical factors which were non-legal where judges do no possess the necessary information and expertise to evaluate these non-legal factors and to pass judgment on the adequacy of the policy.
“Courts must be wary of unduly extending judicial arms to policy matters which are exclusively within the domain of the executive.
“Unwarranted usurpation and transgression by the judiciary into the realm of the executive and vice-versa will bring about disrepute to our system of government which upholds the separation of powers between the three main components – the executive, the legislature and the judiciary,” said Raus.
The second top judge in the judiciary (Raus) also held that the matter was legally unsustainable and not judicially reviewable.
The other judges on the panel were Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin and Federal Court judges Datuk Hashim Yusoff, Tan Sri Suriyadi Halim Omar and Datuk Ahmad Maarof.
“We see no purpose for the High Court to grant leave (to Dr Jeyakumar to initiate a judicial review) just for the purpose of investigation on a full inter-party basis when the documents (submitted) clearly showed that he has no arguable case,” said Raus in dismissing Jeyakumar’s appeal.
Dr Jeyakumar was appealing against the Appeals Court’s decision to revoke the leave granted to him by a Kuala Lumpur High Court to file a judicial review application to challenge the decision of government agencies in rejecting his application for funds to be used as contributions to SMJK Shin Chung, SJK Methodist and Nurul Ihsan Orphanage, as well as funds for small projects to benefit Orang Asli villagers.
The Parti Sosialis Malaysia official named the director-general of the Implementation and Coordination Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department, the Perak Development Office director and the government as respondents in his leave for judicial review application filed on Oct 29, 2010.
He sought, among others, a declaration that the Special Constituency Allocation must be provided to all members of parliament equally, regardless of political affiliation, in accordance with Article 8 (1) of the Federal Constitution.
Dr Jeyakumar also sought an order to compel the respondents to specify the kind of projects and activities for which special constituency allocations will be granted, who can apply for the funds, the criteria considered in granting the funds and the time limit for a decision on an application to be made.
In his 22-page judgment, Justice Raus said the Perak Development Office director had clearly explained why he decided the way he did concerning the distribution of the allocation for the Sungai Siput constituency.
“Clearly, what was decided by the Perak Development office director hinged on matters relating to policy and thus we would dissuade ourselves from entering into the realm which belongs to the executive,” he said.
Raus, however, said in appropriate cases the court as custodian of law and justice is duty bound to intervene, especially where the policy or action of the executive was inconsistent with the Federal Constitution and the law, or in any manner arbitrary, irrational or there were elements of mala fides and abuse of power.
He said whether or not the court should interfere clearly depended on the facts and circumstances of each case. — Bernama