High Court dismisses suits against Lynas by Kuantan folk

KUANTAN: After three years of legal wrangling over the approval of Lynas’ temporary operating licence (TOL), the High Court finally threw out the case.

In dismissing the application for a judicial review by a group of Kuantan residents, Justice Mariana Yahya ruled that there was no decision that had to be reviewed in the first judicial review filed by Save Malaysia, Stop Lynas (SMSL) chairman Tan Bun Teet and two others.

On the second judicial review filed by Ismail Abu Bakar and Tan Ah Meng, Justice Mariana said there was no proof to show the then Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili had been biased towards Lynas when arbitrating disputes involving the rare earth plant.

She dismissed both applications with costs.

She said this was because the applicants withdrew their appeal to Ongkili against the issuance of the TOL, meaning that they had waived their certiorari rights in the matter.

“Since the applicants have withdrawn their appeal, the minister was therefore not required to make a decision and because there was no decision made by the minister, it meant there was no decision to be reviewed by the court,” said Justice Mariana.

On the second judicial review, she said the exhibits submitted by the applicants to support their claim were articles from third parties.

“It was never stated which statement by the minister was actually in support of Lynas. The claim that there were elements of bias was only the opinion of the applicants, thus it is not reasonable for the court to make a decision based on unconfirmed content,” said Justice Mariana.