Taxi driver's application to delist LTTE as terrorist group dismissed

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): The High Court here Thursday (Sept 17) dismissed an application for a judicial review by taxi driver V. Balamurugan to delist the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as a terrorist group.

Lawyer Omar Kutty Abdul Aziz, representing Balamurugan, told reporters that judge Mariana Yahya dismissed the application after finding that it was filed more than three months after LTTE was gazetted as a terrorist group.

He said the application should have been filed within three months of the LTTE being listed as a terrorist group in 2014.

"Balamurugan has also been discharged of the LTTE charges, so he has no locus standi to file the application. The court rejected the application without any order on costs," he added.

Senior Federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambali represented the Home Minister and the government, who were named the respondents.

On Feb 6, Balamurugan obtained permission from the court to initiate the judicial review proceeding after filing the application on Jan 8.

He had sought a declaration that the LTTE details in the gazette as null and void and the listing of LTTE was unlawful as it was ultra vires to the Federal Constitution.

He also sought for a certiorari order to quash the listing of LTTE in the gazette, Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing, and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities (Declaration of Specified Entities and Reporting Requirements (Amendment) 2014; dated Nov 12,2014.

On Feb 24, Balamurugan was acquitted and discharged on five charges of supporting LTTE by High Court Judicial Commissioner Ahmad Shahrir Mohd Salleh after the prosecution informed the court that they received instruction from the Attorney General's Chambers to drop the charges against him. - Bernama