Bersih can challenge order, rules court

The Star
by M. MAGESWARI

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has allowed the Bersih 2.0 Steering Committee to challenge the Home Minister’s order declaring the movement as an unlawful society.

High Court (Appellate and Special Powers) judge Justice Rohana Yusuf granted the committee leave to initiate a judicial review application.

Justice Rohana, however, dismissed the committee’s application for leave to get an order prohibiting the Home Minister, Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and their officers from entering and searching any of their premises as well as seizing any property belonging to them.

The judge also rejected the committee’s application for leave to get an order directing the minister and/or IGP to release to the applicants all T-shirts, placards, newspapers, books, circulars, pictorial representations, periodicals, pamphlets, posters, proclamations, accounts, banners, list of members, seals, and related documents bearing the logo and words of Bersih 2.0 seized from them.

Justice Rohana refused a preliminary objection raised by the Attorney-General’s Chambers that the applicants have no legal rights to institute the action against the Government and two others.

The judge made the order after meeting the parties in chambers yesterday.

Committee chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan said the court also granted leave to them to alternatively seek a declaration that the minister’s order was invalid.

Justice Rohana has set Nov 22 to hear merits of the judicial review application.

Senior federal counsel Datuk Kamaluddin Said said he would seek further instructions from the Attorney-General on whether to appeal the court ruling.

Ambiga and 13 others filed the application for leave to quash the July 1 order, made under Section 5 of the Societies Act declaring the movement as an unlawful society.

The Home Minister, IGP and the Government have been named as respondents in the application filed on July 8.

In a statement, Ambiga welcomed the High Court decision to allow the movement to challenge the Home Minister’s order.

She said it was “absolutely vital” in a democratic society that citizens, affected by executive powers, to be given the opportunity to challenge them fairly in court.