On 10th March 2026, the Federal Court granted leave to proceed with Muar Member of Parliament YB Syed Saddiq’s appeal on the Government’s decision to discontinue allocation to the Muar parliamentary constituency, following his party’s departure from the Unity Government.
Under Section 96(a) of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964, parties who wish to appeal to the Federal Court must establish that the questions of law posed must involve a general principle decided for the first time or a question of importance upon which further arguments & a decision of the Federal Court would be of public advantage.
The apex bench (Justices Nordin Hassan, Lee Swee Seng & Collin Lawrence Sequerah) found that the 3 questions of law posed were novel & would be of public advantage:
“1. Whether a public authority’s conduct “in such a manner so as to demonstrate quite unequivocally that they were willing to, and did reconsider or review their earlier decision” should be taken into account for the purposes of computing the three (3) months limitation period in Order 53 Rule 3(6) of the Rules of Court 2012, having regard to the Court of Appeal’s decision in Ketua Pengarah Hasil Dalam Negeri v Yayasan Buah Pinggang Kebangsaan Malaysia [2024] 4 MLJ 288.
2. Whether the decision of this Court in Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj v Peguam Negara Malaysia [2013] 2 CLJ 1009 (“Michael Jeyakumar”) renders all decisions of the Executive with regard to constituency allocation as not amenable to judicial review.
2.1 If so, whether the decision of this Court in Michael Jeyakumar is good law in light of this Court’s shift from unfettered discretion to restricted supervision having regard to Sundra Rajoo a/l Nadarajah v Menteri Luar Negeri, Malaysia & Ors [2021] 5 MLJ 209 and Indira Gandhi a/p Mutho v Pengarah Jabatan Agama Islam Perak & Ors and other appeals [2018] 1 MLJ 545.
3. Where allocation for a parliamentary constituency towards a Member of Parliament has been withdrawn or denied, are such decision(s) amenable to judicial review on the basis of breach of the right to equality guaranteed under Article 8(1) of the Federal Constitution, breach of the doctrine of separation of powers and/or mala fide?”
We look forward to the substantive hearing on this matter which is of great public interest, and would clarify key constitutional & administrative law principles.
YB Syed Saddiq & 3 other Muar voters were represented by Lim Wei Jiet, Joshua Wu & Nevyn Vinosh Venudran. The Prime Minister & the Government of Malaysia were represented by SFC Nurhafizza Azizan & FC Ng Wee Li.
The matter has been covered by The Edge.
