PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has fixed Aug 7 to deliver its verdict on the Election Commission’s (EC) appeal against a High
Court’s decision nullifying the commission’s notice of its recommendations for the proposed redelineation of electoral boundaries for Sarawak.
Senior federal counsel Azizan Md Arshad, when contacted by Bernama, said his office was informed of the decision date today by the Court of Appeal’s deputy registrar.
He said the decision is scheduled to be delivered at 9am on that day.
The appeal was heard on July 9 by a three-member Court of Appeal panel comprising Justices Datuk Mohd Zawawi Salleh, Tan Sri Idrus Harun and Datuk Abdul Rahman Sebli, and the panel had reserved their decision.
On May 15, this year, a High Court in Kuching declared that the EC’s notice of its recommendations for the proposed redelineation exercise lacked details and ordered the EC to republish the notice.
On May 25, this year, High Court judge Yew Jen Kie made an additional order declaring the EC’s notice of redelineation null and void after ruling that the notice was not in accordance of the 13th Schedule of the Federal Constitution.
She ordered the EC to republish the notice of its recommendations for the proposed redelineation exercise “in full compliance with the provisions contained in the 13th Schedule of the Federal Constitution”.
The High Court had allowed the judicial review brought by Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How and a voter in Ulu Baram, Pauls Baya.
In their judicial review application, See and Pauls sought a declaration that the redelineation exercise was null and void as it was not done in compliance with the Federal Constitution’s 13th Schedule.
They claimed that the EC’s proposed recommendations and draft constituency plan were seriously lacking in detailed particulars and that insufficient notice was given to the affected constituencies.
They also wanted a mandatory order directing the EC to republish a notice of its proposed recommendations in full compliance with the provisions of the 13th Schedule.-Bernama