KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government is still a party in the Sabah Law Society's (SLS) judicial review against Putrajaya for the return of 40% of federal revenue earned from Sabah.
Its immediate past president Datuk Roger Chin (pic) said the state Attorney General (AG) had made this clear after withdrawing all arguments presented by its appointed private attorney at the Court of Appeal hearing and terminated his services in May.
He said this amid questions raised by Parti Warisan legal advisor Chin Teck Min on the state government's support for the SLS judicial review.
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Teck Min's remarks were based on the Oct 17 Federal Court decision dismissing the federal AG's bid to stop SLS from being granted leave to have its case heard at the Kota Kinabalu High Court.
Roger explained that the Sabah government was not named as a party in the federal AG's application against SLS.
"As such, the state was not required to appear before the Federal Court hearing," he said.
He added that the state's position on the SLS judicial review was already on record, as reflected in the Court of Appeal's grounds for its decision in June.
He pointed out that In paragraph 4 of the Court of Appeal’s decision, it noted that the Sabah AG had informed the Deputy Registrar that the appointment of the private practitioner representing the state had been revoked.
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The Sabah AG further confirmed in person the withdrawal of all arguments presented by the state-appointed counsel and expressed satisfaction that the case should proceed to a substantive hearing and be addressed on its merits, Roger said.
"The state, therefore, endorsed the view that leave should be granted to SLS, permitting the judicial review to be heard by the High Court.
"This position affirms that the state supports SLS's action to seek leave for the judicial review to proceed.
"It is essential to clarify that during the Court of Appeal proceedings (in May), the Sabah AG withdrew only the submissions made on behalf of the state.
"Thus, it is evident that the state remains a party to the ongoing High Court proceedings," he added.
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On Oct 17, the Federal Court allowed SLS's judicial application against the Federal Government for the return of 40% of revenue to the state to be heard by the Kota Kinabalu High Court.
SLS applied for judicial review in 2022 to compel Putrajaya to pay Sabah its constitutional right to 40% of revenue derived from the state.
The Kota Kinabalu High Court granted the application.
The Federal Government, via the AG’s Chambers, appealed the decision and obtained a stay on proceedings in the High Court.
On June 18, the Court of Appeal upheld the lower court’s decision on the grounds that the SLS had established the threshold for locus standi in the case.
