Court can’t usurp Dewan Rakyat’s right to decide on redelineation

Court of Appeal judgment states constitutional protection given to 'both Houses of Parliament' on validity of proceedings cannot be questioned in any court.

PUTRAJAYA: The Dewan Rakyat is the penultimate decision maker on any proposal made by the Election Commission (EC) on redrawing of election boundaries and the court cannot usurp that function, the Court of Appeal said.

“The Federal Constitution confers on the House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat) the constitutional duty either to approve or reject the proposed recommendations,” Justice Hasnah Mohammed Hashim said.

She further said the decision of the Dewan Rakyat was constitutionally protected by virtue of Article 63 (1) of the Constitution, which states that the validity of any proceedings in either House of Parliament (Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara) or any committee shall not be questioned in any court.

“A judicial review by the courts in matters pertaining to the delimitation exercise would be an encroachment of a function constitutionally mandated by the Federal Constitution,” she said in the 46-page written judgment delivered on Nov 28.

On July 18, the bench chaired by Justice Umi Kalthum Abdul Majid in their oral decision allowed the EC’s appeal to set aside the decision of the High Court judge in Melaka to give leave for judicial review to seven voters in the state.

The seven – Chan Tsu Chong, Neo Lih Xin, Azura Talib, Lim Kah Seng, Norhizam Hassan Baktee, Amir Khairudin, and Amran Atan – were representing voters from the Kota Melaka and Bukit Katil parliamentary seats in challenging the EC’s proposed re-delineation exercise which they deemed “unconstitutional”.

Justices Hasnah and Idrus Harun were the other members of the bench who delivered the unanimous ruling.

Hasnah said it was clear that Article 113 of the constitution had entrusted upon the EC to undertake the delimitation process within the framework of the said provision.

Therefore, she said the findings and recommendations of the EC were not reviewable under Order 53 of the Rules of Court 2012 and that the High Court judge had gravely erred in granting leave to the (seven) voters.

Under the current procedure, the EC conducts delineation exercises based on guidelines in the Constitution.

It has two years to complete the task which includes conducting two rounds of mandatory inquiries if there were complaints from a state government, local government or a group of 100 voters.

The EC then submits a report to the prime minister who shall present it to the Dewan Rakyat for approval with a simple majority vote of the total number of members in that legislature.

This was the ruling that bound High Court judge Azizul Azmi Adnan who on Dec 7 dismissed Selangor’s judicial review application to challenge the EC’s exercise in drawing the electoral boundaries.

The PKR-led Selangor government filed the legal challenge in October last year, seeking to nullify the EC’s notice of redelineation, claiming it violated the Federal Constitution in drawing new electoral boundaries.

The judge, however, allowed Selangor’s interim stay application pending the outcome of its appeal in the Court of Appeal to maintain the status quo but that was set aside yesterday.

This means the EC could conduct its local inquiry in Selangor, an exercise that has been completed in other states in the peninsular. -FMT

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