adminPUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court today dismissed an application by former PKR vice-president Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin to review an order allowing the party to appeal the Court of Appeal’s decision which reduced the payment from RM10 million to RM100,000 in a party bond breach case.
The three-judge panel, chaired by Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang, unanimously ruled that the highest court would only allow a review if there were special and exceptional circumstances and to avoid injustice.
Rhodzariah said the previous panel’s decision to amend the draft questions was only to help the Federal Court determine the issues that arose before hearing the merits of the appeal.
“We believe the amendment aims to resolve the actual appeal for future cases based on the factual matrix of this case.”
“By refining the original question, it does not materially alter the issues presented before the supreme court panel and does not amount to an exercise of excessive jurisdiction in this matter.
“Therefore, we reject the review application with a cost of RM50,000,” said he, who was sitting together with Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali and Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
The case has been set for management tomorrow to determine the date for hearing PKR’s appeal.
On June 24 last year, the Federal Court gave PKR permission to appeal in the case.
On Dec 11, 2024, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal led by Datuk See Mee Chun upheld the High Court’s decision that Zuraida had breached the bond but reduced the payment amount from RM10 million to RM100,000.
Previously on June 23, 2023, the High Court ruled in PKR’s favour and ordered Zuraida, who is also the former Ampang Member of Parliament, to pay RM10 million in accordance with the bond conditions after Judge Datuk Akhtar Tahir ruled that the bond was a valid and binding contract.
The suit was filed in 2020 by PKR Secretary-General Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail over allegations that Zuraida had violated the terms of a bond signed before contesting in the 14th General Election in 2018.
According to the bond, among other things, Zuraida is required to pay RM10 million to PKR within seven days if she resigns from the party, joins another party or becomes an independent elected representative after being elected on the party’s ticket.
In her defence, Zuraida claimed that she was forced to sign the bond to enable her to contest as a PKR candidate in the general election.
In today’s proceedings, PKR was represented by lawyers Ranjit Singh, William Leong, Navpreet Singh, Gregory Leong Tuck Yuen and Liew Hong Wei, while Zuraida was represented by lawyers Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun, Nurul Najwa Zainuddin and Syed Afiq Syed Albakri.
— BERNAMA
