crime
PUTRAJAYA: Jailed Parti Keadilan Rakyat de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has filed an application to review the Federal Court’s decision in disallowing him to attend the hearing of his civil case on grounds of coram failure.
The notice of motion for review under Rule 137 of the Rules of the Federal Court 1995 and Anwar’s affidavit supporting his review application was filed by law firm Messrs Daim & Gamany at the Federal Court registry yesterday.
In his application, Anwar, 69, is seeking the Federal Court to review and set aside its earlier decision made on Oct 27 this year and wanted the matter to be reheard. In his affidavit, the former Opposition leader cited that there was coram failure in the previous Federal Court three- man panel as he claimed that Tan Sri Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin’s appointment as additional judge of the Federal Court and Court of Appeal President was unconstitutional.
Justice Zulkefli had chaired the panel which dismissed Anwar’s request to be produced and attend the hearing of his application for leave to appeal on Dec 15, this year, regarding his civil case over his right to vote in the Permatang Pauh parliamentary by-election in May 2015.
Anwar said the Federal Court sitting last Oct 27 was bad in terms of quorum as a minimum of three judges were necessary under Section 74 (1) of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 which was not complied with. Anwar is serving a five-year jail term at the Sungai Buloh Prison for sodomy.
On June 13, this year, Anwar lost his appeal at the Court of Appeal which had upheld the High Court’s dismissal of his bid for a declaration on his right to vote in the Permatang Pauh parliamentary by-election on May 7, 2015.
The High Court had ruled on July 15, last year that the Election Commission (EC) had no jurisdiction to bring him to the polling station for him to cast his vote in elections.
It ruled that a prisoner who has been registered as a voter before his conviction has the right to vote but the Election Commission (EC) has no jurisdiction to bring him to the polling station for him to cast his vote in elections. The High Court held that the respective prisoner has to apply to the Prisons Department director-general to make the necessary arrangements to allow a prisoner to vote.
Anwar had named the Election Commission, its then chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof and the Government as defendants in his lawsuit. — Bernama