PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has reserved its decision on an application to stay committal proceedings involving six individuals, including three Negri Sembilan Undang.
A three-member panel chaired by Justice Dr Alwi Abdul Wahab fixed Sept 14 for case management via e-review to determine the date for delivering its decision on the stay application.
“The ad interim stay (dated July 29) is extended until the decision,” Justice Alwi said here yesterday.
The six are former Undang Luak Sungai Ujong Datuk Mubarak Thahak, Undang Luak Jelebu Datuk Maarof Mat Rashad, Undang Luak Johol Datuk Muhammed Abdullah, Undang Luak Rembau Datuk Abdul Rahim Yasin, Tunku Besar Tampin Tunku Syed Razman Tunku Syed Idrus Al-Qadri and Shahbandar Sungai Ujong Datuk Seri Badarudin Abdul Khalid.
If the stay is granted, the six can pursue their appeal against the Seremban High Court’s decision to grant leave for the committal proceedings to proceed. If it is not granted, the committal proceedings will proceed at the Seremban High Court.
The proceedings stem from allegations that the six breached an ad interim injunction issued by the High Court on June 5.
Also on the panel were Justices Dr Shahnaz Sulaiman and Amarjeet Singh.
Earlier, lawyer Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud, representing the appellants, argued that their appeal against the leave decision would be rendered nugatory if the stay was not granted.
He said the appeal raised important legal issues, including which court had jurisdiction to hear the injunction and committal matters – the Special Court or the High Court.
The Special Court is a specialised court for cases involving the Yang di-Pertuan Agong or a state Ruler in their personal capacities.
Awang Armadajaya said if jurisdiction lay with the Special Court, all proceedings before the High Court would be invalid.
Meanwhile, respondents’ lawyer Steven Thiru, representing the Dewan Keadilan dan Undang Negeri Sembilan (DKU) and its secretary Raja Norazli Raja Nordin, argued that the committal proceedings should proceed without delay.
He said it was a settled principle that once contempt proceedings had commenced, they should be given priority over other proceedings.
The legal dispute began on May 5, when Mubarak and five others filed an originating summons at the Seremban High Court seeking a copy of the minutes of a special DKU meeting held on April 17.
The minutes reportedly included a decision to remove Mubarak as Undang Luak Sungai Ujong.
On June 5, the High Court granted an ad interim injunction to preserve the status quo by maintaining the existing composition of the DKU and Raja Norazli’s position as its secretary, pending determination of issues relating to jurisdiction and justiciability or until further order.
However, Raja Norazli claimed that media reports on the same day showed that the plaintiffs, particularly Maarof, had been involved in the purported appointment of the Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negri Sembilan, despite the injunction remaining in force.
He alleged that the appointment was made in defiance of the court order, prompting the DKU and Raja Norazli to seek leave from the High Court to commence committal proceedings against the six for contempt of court.
