The Court of Appeal has reminded Malaysians that there are no absolute rights in the Federal Constitution, including the right to travel abroad.

Justice Idrus Harun said this in his 44-page judgment published today, in relation to Tony Pua's appeal to challenge a 2015 travel ban against him.

He referred to the last page of Malaysian-issued international passports, which states that a passport is the property of the Malaysian government and may be withdrawn at any time.

“This is clearly stated in the last paragraph of the passport. With all these conditions accompanying the issuance of a passport, we are inclined to say that at the most, any issuance of a Malaysian passport only carries with it a privilege and not a right to travel overseas...