There was a new twist in the two cases against Perak speaker V Sivakumar this morning with Ipoh High Court judicial commissioner Ridwan Ibrahim withdrawing himself from hearing the cases.
The first case involved an application by Perak's BN Menteri Besar Zambry Abd Kadir and his state exco members against V Sivakumar for suspending them from attending the state assembly.
And the second suit was by three BN-friendly independents against Sivakumar's decision to declare the seats vacant using their undated resignation letters.
When the suits first came up for hearing last month, Ridwan had ruled that Sivakumar can only be represented by the state legal advisor on the grounds that he was a public servant.
Sivakumar had objected to this ruling, stating that there would be a conflict of interest as the state legal advisor was also appearing for Zambry in another matter.
Court of Appeal ruling
The matter then went to the Court of Appeal which ruled last week that Sivakumar can appoint his own team of lawyers.
"We find no provision in any law that states the speaker must be represented by the state legal adviser.
"Under the Government Proceedings Act, the speaker is not a state officer or the government of the state. The appellant is at liberty to engage his own private advocates and solicitors," ruled the Court of Appeal.
Both the cases came up for hearing before Ridwan this morning in chambers and the judicial commissioner recused himself from hearing the cases.
The matters have now been transferred to the chambers of Ipoh High Court judge Wan Afrah Wan Ibrahim
She has fixed April 2 to hear application from Sivakumar's lawyers to strike out the suit.
The first case involved an application by Perak's BN Menteri Besar Zambry Abd Kadir and his state exco members against V Sivakumar for suspending them from attending the state assembly.
And the second suit was by three BN-friendly independents against Sivakumar's decision to declare the seats vacant using their undated resignation letters.When the suits first came up for hearing last month, Ridwan had ruled that Sivakumar can only be represented by the state legal advisor on the grounds that he was a public servant.
Sivakumar had objected to this ruling, stating that there would be a conflict of interest as the state legal advisor was also appearing for Zambry in another matter.
Court of Appeal ruling
The matter then went to the Court of Appeal which ruled last week that Sivakumar can appoint his own team of lawyers.
"We find no provision in any law that states the speaker must be represented by the state legal adviser.
"Under the Government Proceedings Act, the speaker is not a state officer or the government of the state. The appellant is at liberty to engage his own private advocates and solicitors," ruled the Court of Appeal.
Both the cases came up for hearing before Ridwan this morning in chambers and the judicial commissioner recused himself from hearing the cases.
The matters have now been transferred to the chambers of Ipoh High Court judge Wan Afrah Wan Ibrahim
She has fixed April 2 to hear application from Sivakumar's lawyers to strike out the suit.
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