PUTRAJAYA, Oct 23 — The Federal Court has set December 16 to hear the legal bid filed by ten deposed Negeri Sembilan State Executive Council (Exco) members to challenge the state ruler’s decision last month to revoke their appointments.
Lawyer Datuk Wira Mohd Hafarizam Harun, representing the former exco members, and lawyer Marisa Regina Mohd Aris Rizal, appearing for the Negeri Sembilan government, confirmed the hearing date when contacted by Bernama after case management Deputy Registrar Azaraorni Abd Rahman.
The 10 are Datuk Mohd Faizal Ramli, Datuk Zaifulbahri Idris, Mustapha Nagoor, Siow Kong Choon, Siti Nur Umaira Hasim, Datuk Mohd Asna Amin, Datuk Mohd Razi Mohd Ali, Suhaimizan Bizar, Datuk Mohd Fairuz Mohd Isa and Datuk Razali Abu Samah.
They filed the notice of motion on October 14 and named the Negeri Sembilan State Secretary and the State Government as respondents.
Through the notice of motion, they are requesting that the court determine three legal questions concerning the effect and interpretation of provisions within the 1959 State Constitution of Negeri Sembilan — questions that have arisen from an originating summons they filed at the Seremban High Court.
On October 5, they filed an originating summons at the Seremban High Court to challenge the validity of the gazette notification revoking their appointments as members of the Negeri Sembilan State Exco.
One of the questions is whether Article 38(5), when read together with Articles 38(2), 38(3), 38(4), 40(1), 40(1A), and 40(2) of the State Constitution of Negeri Sembilan, authorises the Yang Dipertuan Besar to revoke the appointment of an Exco member without the advice of the Menteri Besar.
Should the answer to that question be in the negative, they seek a determination as to whether the revocation of the Exco appointments, as gazetted on September 24, was carried out in accordance with the State Constitution of Negeri Sembilan, and whether such revocation is null, void, and of no legal effect.
Another question is whether Article 38(5), read together with Article 28(1) of the State Constitution, implies that the term Raja Pemerintah (Ruler) refers to the Yang Dipertuan Besar, vesting him with the authority to revoke the appointment of an Exco member at his own discretion, without the advice of the Menteri Besar.
If the answer to this question is in the negative, then it must be determined whether their dismissal is contrary to the State Constitution.
On September 20, the Negeri Sembilan Palace announced that the Yang Dipertuan Besar, Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir, had revoked the appointments of the 10 Exco members with immediate effect.
The revocation of their appointments was gazetted on September 24, with their removal taking effect on September 20.
The gazette stated that their appointments were revoked and annulled because they violated their pledge of allegiance to Tuanku Muhriz when they agreed on Tuanku Muhriz’s removal as the Yang Dipertuan Besar. — Bernama