Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim today said that the “threatening” legal letter sent to Selangor speaker Teng Chang Khim by Port Klang assemblyperson Badrul Hisham Abdullah is not only a threat to the House but also to the state.

“We have made clear that this is the state’s case and the speaker’s counsel was appointed by the Legal Advisor. We have paid and will be paying for the proceedings,” he said.

He added that bankruptcy proceeding is usually “the last resort” in matters like these, and it was almost ridiculous to put it as if the state is unable to pay RM40,000.

“RM40,000 is a small amount for a state,” he said, chuckling.

He said the state has given its undertaking to pay the amount to the court in trust, as “we trust the court a bit more than (Badrul Hisham’s) lawyer”.

“Just as (Badrul Hisham) can question our capacity to pay RM40,000, we too can question his capacity to pay us back in the event that the (High Court) decision is set aside,” he said.

NONE Earlier, Abdul Khalid ( right in picture ) had tabled a motion to refer Badrul Hisham, whose seat was declared vacant by Teng on Jan 19, to the Rights and Privileges Committee for contempt through a letter to the speaker which was allegedly “indecent, insolent and threatening”.

Badrul Hisham had demanded that Teng ( left in picture ), in his capacity as a speaker, pay RM40,000 in legal costs, as directed by the High Court in its Feb 18 decision.

The court had found Teng’s declaration of vacancy, following Badrul Hisham’s absenteeism, invalid in a default judgment in the absence of the state-appointed counsel Tommy Thomas.

‘Badrul Hisham ungentlemanly’

Commenting on this, Teng said that the BN-Port Klang representative’s letter was “ungentlemanly” as they were still awaiting a date to set aside the High Court decision which was made in the absence of the speaker’s counsel.

He added that there was also an appeal pending with the Court of Appeal, which was filed within 30 days of the High Court decision, as a contingency if the decision could be set aside.

“It is legal for (Badrul Hisham) to send that letter but it is mala fide. The order was for me in my capacity as a speaker so the payment must be made by the state, and procedures would take time.

“However, in his letter (which threatened bankruptcy proceedings) it was not mentioned that the suit was for the speaker of the House,” he said.

While he did not want to prejudge the Rights and Privileges Committee hearing, Teng said he felt that it was a “serious matter” as a bankruptcy action would have disqualified him as speaker, at a time when the assembly was in session.

Abdul Khalid said that Kota Alam Shah assemblyperson M Manoharan has been selected to stand in Teng’s position as the chairperson of the committee, due to his experience as a lawyer.