Former Perak speaker V Sivakumar has lost his final appeal. The Federal Court today refused to grant him leave to hear his appeal in a suit he brought against Barisan Nasional speaker R Ganesan ( left ) for assault and battery.

r ganesan 130509 In civil matters before the apex court, it is not an automatic right for one to appeal as permission to do so has to be granted.

Sivakumar's appeal was one of the major events in the Perak constitutional crisis, after the Court of Appeal ruled on June 22 that it could not interfere in matters that transpired in Perak state assembly proceedings of May 7 last year, nor in the legislature's resolution on Sivakumar's removal as the speaker.

That judgment was widely criticised by several quarters for overlooking the crucial question of when, and in what circumstances, can the Perak Legislative Assembly remove the incumbent speaker.

Court of Appeal judge Abdul Malik Ishak had ruled then that whatever had taken place in the Perak state assembly on May 7 last year, when Sivakumar was replaced as speaker by Ganesan, was "legitimate and validly done according to the law".

Justice Abdul Malik said it was indisputable that the assembly had the power or jurisdiction to elect or dismiss the speaker, adding that issue of the validity of the speaker appointed was outside the domain of the court's jurisdiction by virtue of Article 72 of the federal constitution.

What was worse for Sivakumar in the Federal Court today was that the panel of three judges, headed by Court of Appeal president Alauddin Md Sheriff, in their unanimous decision rejecting his application for leave to appeal also ordered Sivakumar to pay costs of RM7,000.

NONE The others sitting with Justice Alauddin were Federal Court judges Hashim Yusoff and Mohd Ghazali Mohd Yusoff.

Sivakumar ( right ) was represented by Chan Kok Keong and Leong Cheok Keng, while Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin and Mohd Hafarizam Harun appeared for Ganesan.

Real issue never addressed

The question of whether the election of Ganesan was legal or not was never addressed, although the election came before the royal address to the legislature.

Normally, as in the Dewan Rakyat or in other state assembly seatings, it is the Yang di Pertuan Agong, the sultan of the state concerned or its head of state, who officiates the sitting or proceedings with the opening address, after which the session is considered as convened.

In the case of the Perak dispute, the royal address was made after the speaker's removal, bringing into question whether the assembly's proceedings had legally commenced.

The Court of Appeal had on June 22 dismissed Sivakumar's case that he was dragged out of his seat as speaker of the Perak State Legislative Assembly, and detained for two hours, as a non-justiciable matter.

The appeal court in its decision ageed with the decision of the High Court in Ipoh on Sept 8 last year that it could not interfere with what had been decided by the assemblypersons on May 7 that year.

Appeallate court judge Justice Abdul Malek Ishak in his written judgment provided later ruled that the court could not interfere with the Perak state legislative assembly proceedings as the removal of the speaker was validly done according to the law.

Also on Sept 8 last year, the High Court in Ipoh summarily struck out Sivakumar's suit to seek damages and costs for the assault, battery and wrongful detention he suffered on the orders of Ganesan, who had taken charge as the new speaker.