Online portal FZ.com 's publishing licence issued by the Home Ministry last year, was revoked last week merely hours after the portal was granted leave to commence judicial review proceedings against the Home Ministry.

 

Businessman Tong Kooi Ong ( left ), who owns FZ.com , wrote in his blog that FZ had filed for a judicial review, via its parent company The Edge Communications Sdn Bhd, in November last year, after the Home Ministry "deferred" the licence initially given to publish a free daily newspaper called FZ Daily .

 

He is now questioning how the Home Ministry could revoke the permit even before the first issue of the paper had even hit the stands.

 

According to a chronology of events posted on Tong's blog, the Home Ministry acted quickly to deny FZ publishing opportunities on both occasions.

 

After issuing a permit on Aug 20 last year, the Home Ministry deferred its permit merely eight days later, leading to the judicial review application filed by Edge Communications.

 

And on Feb 5, the ministry sent the company a letter revoking the licence dated Jan 21, 2014, merely hours after leave was granted to commence the judicial review proceedings.

 

"We must expect that in any fair and just society, there will be reasonable grounds for a particular action taken by the authority," he said.

 

"But what reasonable grounds could there have been for the ministry to approve, defer and then revoke the permit for FZ Daily before the first copy even hits the stands?" Tong asked.

 

FZ first applied for the permit in October 2012, and was given a one-year approval last year.