NUBE: Removal of sec-gen case postponed
The hearing on the application to set aside National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) general secretary J Solomon's inter-parte injunction has been postponed to April 9 and 10.
Solomon's move to restrain the union from removing him as general secretary was heard in chambers before Justice Abdul Aziz Muhammad today.
The matter was last heard on March 5 and 6, together with six other defendants' application seeking to have Solomon's suit summarily thrown out.
The six are NUBE president Johar Sulaiman, his deputy Muhammad Fauzi Shamsuddin, vice-president Toh Seng Hock, general treasurer Mohd Noor Basir, exco members A Prathiba Raj and the union itself as a registered trade union.
In his affidavit dated Nov16 last year, Solomon stated that his dismissal on Oct 30 the same year was " ultra vires of the NUBE constitution, in breach of the fundamental rules of natural justice, illegal, and null and void".
Ill intentions
Solomon believes that his removal from office, without any notice, was tainted with ill intentions based on the absence of an agenda for any intended vote of no confidence during the Oct 30 exco meeting, the failure to issue any show-cause or specific charge and the failure to hear his defence.
Solomon also believes that NUBE's constitutional provision for arbitration does not bar him from seeking a legal remedy and an interim relief in court.
Mohd Noor, in his counter-affidavit dated Nov 27 last year, said the injunction against the six defendants was outside the court's jurisdiction and that Solomon had no locus standi .
His argument is that Solomon's right to challenge the exco's decision lay in the arbitration under Rule 26 of the NUBE constitution, read together with Section 44 of the Trade Unions Act 1955 and/or Order 6.5 of the Triennial Delegates Conference.
Cyrus V Das and D Kalaimani are representing Solomon and the NUBE respectively.
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