The three independent Perak assemblypersons will remain state representatives after the Federal Court ruled today that the Election Commission was the rightful body to declare vacancies in the state seat.
Perak speaker V Sivakumar had earlier said the three had resigned from their seats but this was questioned by the assemblypersons.
The trio - Hee Yit Foong (Jelapang), Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu (Changkat Jering) and Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (Behrang) - had quit their respective parties to back BN in the shock takeover of the Perak government on Feb 4.They withdrew their support for the Pakatan Rakyat state government and became BN-friendly independents on Feb 4.
The three were joined by a fourth assemblyperson - Bota representative Nasharuddin Hashim, who had earlier defected from Umno to PKR but returned to the party’s fold.
The apex court's decision today was made after 20 minutes of recess, when the five-member panel heard submissions from lawyer Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin representing the three assemblypersons making the application and also from Sivakumar's counsel namely Tommy Thomas, Sulaiman Abdullah and Chan Kok Keong.
Attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail represented the commission.
Court of Appeal president Justice Alauddin Md Sheriff led the bench in the unanimous decision. The other members of the bench were Chief Judge of Malaya Justice Ariffin Zakaria, Federal Court judges Justice Nik Hashim Nik Ab Rahman and Justice S Augustine Paul and Court of Appeal judge James Foong.
"Despite the decision made today, it would not prejudice the other two on-going suits which have yet to be heard," said Alauddin.
With the court's decision, the situation in Perak remains status quo.
Mohd Osman Jailu (Changkat Jering), Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (Behrang) and Hee Yit Foong (Jelapang) want the court to declare that they have not resigned and are still elected representatives.
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