Court grants PN reprieve from ROS deregistration

Perikatan Nasional can proceed with its plans to contest the Malacca state election using its own logo after the Kuala Lumpur High Court today granted a stay on the Registrar of Societies’ (ROS) decision to deregister the opposition pact.

The court decision came after the ROS revoked PN’s registration on Tuesday after deeming the coalition’s response to its show-cause notice unsatisfactory.

The stay was granted as PN’s previous application sought to restrain the ROS from taking further action against the coalition.

The court found that the deregistration risked undermining the judicial review application before it could be decided upon.

Judge Azizan Arshad said the stay would remain in force pending PN’s judicial review challenging the deregistration.

“At this stage, the court will not decide whether the respondent’s action of deregistering is valid, or whether it is exempt from judicial review.

“The implications or the validity of the exercise of such power may still be challenged in a separate proceeding.

“A stay on the deregistration is granted until the substantive matter is dealt with in the judicial review proper,” Azizan said today after hearing the arguments from both sides' lawyers.

The high court judge said that exceptional circumstances warranted the stay, taking into account PN’s role in politics and the potential implications for its rights as elected representatives and state governments.

“The court finds that there is no prejudice if the stay were granted, as the ongoing oversight of PN’s political activities can still be maintained and enforced,” he added.

30-day deadline

Earlier, senior federal counsel Nurhafizza Azizan argued that PN needed to file a fresh judicial review application, as the ROS had not deregistered the coalition when the original application was filed, rendering the matter academic.

However, PN’s counsel Azhar Azizan Harun maintained that the application remained relevant, as one of the reliefs sought was an order restraining the ROS from deregistering the coalition pending the judicial review’s disposal.

Azhar also argued that the ROS had acted prematurely by deregistering PN before the 30-day period stipulated in its show-cause notice had expired.

“In their haste to halt these proceedings, they breached their own timeline of 30 days stipulated in the notice. The deregistration should take place 30 days after the notice date. This is a statutory requirement,” Azhar said.

PN’s deregistration stemmed from a complaint from Bersatu, which was at loggerheads with PAS over the coalition’s direction.

In an immediate reaction, PN secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan said the coalition will hold a meeting following today’s developments.

Bersatu will also be summoned.

“We will call Bersatu to the meeting. It is still a member party,” he was quoted as saying during a press conference at the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex today.

On Sept 22, PN received a show-cause notice from the ROS for failing to invite Bersatu to a coalition supreme council meeting on July 16. The following day, it was ordered to suspend activities under the PN name.

Takiyuddin slammed ROS on Sept 24, saying the deregistration notice was issued in bad faith to apply political pressure.

PN then filed a judicial review at the Kuala Lumpur High Court to seek clarity on its status and quash the ROS actions.

Among the applicants are Takiyuddin, alongside the secretaries-general of its component parties, including Saifuddin Abdullah (Wawasan Negara), Sazmi Miah (Pejuang), Wong Chia Zhen (Gerakan), and Satish Kumar (MIPP).

ROS director-general Zulfikar Ahmad and Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail were named as respondents.

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