PUTRAJAYA: Two businessmen have failed in their appeal to revoke an order by the Kuantan Municipal Council for business premises to display Jawi script on signboards.
A three-judge Court of Appeal panel chaired by Justice Yaacob Md Sam unanimously dismissed the appeal by Jehan Abdullah and A. Dana Palan on grounds that there were no appealable errors by the High Court that could warrant appellate intervention.
The judge said there was no irrationality, unreasonableness or unlawfulness of the directive by the state authority and the local authority in relation to the implementation of Jawi script in the business premises in the Kuantan municipality area.
"The policy does not infringe Article 8 or Article 5 of the Federal Constitution.
"With that, we dismiss the appeal of the appellants. The order of the High Court is affirmed," he said here on Thursday (Feb 16).
The court did not make an order as to costs as the case involved public interest.
Other judges on the bench were Justices P. Ravinthran and Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.
Jehan and Dana Palan, together with Phang Long Yen (now deceased), had initiated a judicial review application in February 2020 to challenge the order by the Kuantan Municipal Council and the Pahang government.
They wanted the local authority to revoke an order dated April 3, 2019 to all business outlets which come under its jurisdiction to have Jawi script on signboards.
They also wanted a court declaration that Section 107(2) of the Local Government Act 1976 was in breach of the equality clause under Article 8 of the Federal Constitution.
Pahang had announced that all business premises and road signs in the state should also have Jawi script equal in size to the Roman letters.
Those who disobey the order can be fined up to RM250.
The Court of Appeal earlier heard submissions from parties, where lawyer T. Gunaseelan, who represented the appellants Jehan and Dana Palan, argued that the directive was "irrational and disproportionate" considering only a small portion of the residents in the area could read Jawi.
Lawyer Ong Siew Wan, who represented the Kuantan Municipal Council, submitted that the appellants only had business licences and did not own any business premises.
"Therefore it is our submission, and we also agree with the finding of the High Court judge, that they have no locus standi because they do not have business premises.
"How are they adversely affected by the decision?" Ong said.
State legal adviser Datuk Saiful Edris Zainuddin, representing Pahang, adopted Ong's submission on their locus standi.
On Aug 5, 2021, Kuantan High Court judge Justice Zainal Azman Ab. Aziz dismissed the judicial review application by the businessmen on grounds that the application was without merit.
