Nizar seeks to challenge Article 63 of Perak Constitution

PUTRAJAYA: Former Perak mentri besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin is going to court in an attempt to declare Article 63 of the Perak State Constitution null and void for being in conflict with the Federal Consti-tution.

He filed the notice of motion at the Federal Court Registry here yesterday, naming the Perak Government, the Government of Malay-sia and Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir as respondents.

The motion was filed through legal firm Messrs Leong & Tan.

In the application, he said the 1996 amendment to Article 63, which gave jurisdiction to the Federal Court to hear constitutional issues regarding the Perak political crisis, was in conflict with Article 4(3) and 4(4) of the Federal Constitution.

He added that the State Assembly did not have the authority to make the amendment.

“Any amendment to Article 63 after Independence is supposed to be made through Article 162(1) of the Federal Constitution, because the Federal Court’s jurisdiction can only be given by Parliament, not the state legislative assembly,” he said.

He also requested for the proceedings to determine who was the legitimate Perak mentri besar, scheduled to be held at the Federal Court today, to be deferred pending the disposal of this application. — Bernama