PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has set Nov 8 to hear the appeals of four former Penang assemblymen over the dismissal of their lawsuits to challenge the validity of a motion passed by the state legislative assembly for them to vacate their seats.
A case management for the appeals was conducted today (May 5) before Court of Appeal deputy registrar Radzilawatee Abdul Rahman who fixed the hearing date.
When contacted by Bernama, lawyer A. Surendra Ananth, who is representing the Penang assembly and Speaker Datuk Law Choo Kiang, confirmed the matter.
The four former assemblymen were Zulkifli Ibrahim (Sungai Acheh), Dr Afif Bahardin (Seberang Jaya), Khaliq Mehtab Ishaq (Bertam) and Zolkifly Md Lazim (Telok Bahang).
In the suits, the four men challenged the constitutionality of Article 14A of the Penang Constitution, and to stop their seats from being declared vacant, pursuant to Article 14A.
Penang High Court Judicial Commissioner Azizan Md Arshad in dismissing the lawsuits on Jan 20 held that he was bound by the Federal Court decision declaring that Article 14A of the state constitution is valid.
Article 14(A) of the Penang Constitution states that a state assemblyman must vacate his seat if he resigns, is stripped of his membership, ceases to be a politician or is chosen as a candidate by another political party.
Justice Azizan also ruled that the court could not grant an injunction against the state assembly and the Speaker to prevent them from discussing the motion requesting the assemblymen to vacate their seats during the state assembly sitting.
He said the court cannot interfere and has no authority over the internal management of the state assembly. - Bernama
