State government ordered by apex court to pay RM50,000 in costs
PUTRAJAYA: The nation’s highest court has shut the door on Kedah’s bid to revive its ban on lottery operations, ruling that the state government failed to meet the threshold to proceed to the apex level of appeal.
A three-judge panel unanimously dismissed the state government’s application seeking leave to appeal to the Federal Court to restore the ban on pool betting in the northern state.
Justices Rhodzariah Bujang, Collin Lawrence Sequerah and Azmi Ariffin ordered the state government to pay RM50,000 in costs.
Justice Rhodzariah, who delivered the judgment, held that the state government had failed to meet the threshold requirement under Section 96 (a) of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 for leave to be granted.
The Kedah government had sought leave to appeal to overturn a Court of Appeal decision that upheld the quashing of the ban.
The Court of Appeal, in its 2-1 majority decision on Dec 12, 2025, ruled that the Kedah government’s decision to cease the issuance and renewal of business licences for pool betting operators was irrational and unconstitutional.
The court’s majority judgment ruled that the decision by the state government to stop issuing and renewing pool betting business licences had exceeded the constitutional limits of the state power.
However, in the dissenting judgment, the Court of Appeal held that the Kedah State Executive Council’s decision not to renew pool betting premises licences constituted a policy matter that should not be interfered with by the court.
At the High Court level, six judicial review applications were filed by pool betting agents, pool betting companies or principal officers of pool betting companies to challenge the state government’s decision.
On June 20, 2024, the High Court granted a declaration that the Kedah state government’s decision is ultra vires the Federal Constitution, a certiorari order to quash the decision and an order for damages to be assessed.
During Federal Court proceedings, counsel for the state government, Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun, sought leave to be granted and proposed six questions of law, Bernama reported.
He said the questions had not been determined by the top court and that it would be to public advantage if the court decide on those questions.
However, lawyer Brian Foong, representing the pool betting operators, argued that the state government failed to fulfil the threshold requirement for leave to be granted.
In November 2021, Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor announced that the state would cease renewing local council licences for lottery outlets starting Jan 1, 2023, as part of efforts to curb social ills.
Speaking to reporters after the proceedings, Foong said the Federal Court’s decision to affirm the High Court’s ruling that quashed the state government’s decision meant his clients could now apply for business premises licences.
“As the policy has been quashed, technically, there is no reason for the local councils to refuse.”
