Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah failed in her bid today to strike out a charge under the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) for failing to notify police on the holding of the Bersih 4 rally last August.

Maria’s application was dismissed by the High Court in Kuala Lumpur which found that she failed to notify the Brickfields district police chief on a pre-rally gathering outside the Nu Sentral Mall in Brickfields.

In making his decision, Justice Mohammad Shariff Abu Samah cited the Court of Appeal's ruling last October that Section 9(5) of the PAA, which fines those who fail to give notice, is constitutional.

"This court finds that the decision in the R Yuneswaran case overrides the appellate court's earlier decision in the Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad case.

"This court also finds that the ruling is retrospective," Justice Mohammad Shariff said.

Thus he ruled that Maria's trial before the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur for failing to abide by Section 9(1) of the PAA must continue.

The defence had argued that the Court of Appeal's earlier ruling that Section 9(5) of the Act was unconstitutional still held at the time of the Bersih 4 rally on Aug 29 and 30, and thus failing to give notice was not an offence.

Maria's lawyer Ambiga Sreenevasan said they would appeal today’s High Court decision.

The Bersih 4 rally in downtown Kuala Lumpur was held to call for electoral reforms and for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to step down.

At its peak, the two day protest had a crowd of about 100,000 participants flooding Dataran Merdeka and the surrounding area.