The Kelantan government has been granted leave (permission) by the Federal Court to pose several questions of law related to its long-standing demand for oil royalty payments by Petronas and the federal government.

NONE As Petronas and the federal government did not object to the application, the five-member bench led by Court of Appeal president Justice Md Raus Sharif allowed the application this morning.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court, which is hearing the case, had decided against full proceedings via witness testimony, but has only ordered submissions on points of law.

The Court of Appeal then upheld its decision, leading to the application to the apex court today.

The other Federal Court judges on the bench were Justices Ahmad Maarop, Zainun Ali, Sulong Matjeraie and also Jeffrey Tan Kok Wha.

The Kelantan government was represented by Tommy Thomas, while Petronas was represented by lawyers Cecil Abraham and Rishwant Singh.

azlan Azizah Nawawi, head of the civil division of the Attorney-General’s Chambers, represented the federal government.

Cecil and Azizah concurred to the five-member bench that they do not object to the Kelantan government’s application.

Also present in the case were Kelantan state exco members led by Husam Musa, who also heads the state’s Oil Royalty Action Committee.

A crowd of at least 1,000 people from the Gabungan Professional Tuntut Royalti, Pendaratan Minyak dan Gas ke Negeri Kelantan (Royalti), which is a coalition of 58 NGOs, had gathered in front of the Palace of Justice.

They had last night gathered at Dataran Shah Alam.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court, besides deciding against the calling of witnesses, had also ruled against the discovery of vital agreement documents by the Kelantan government and also allowed the federal government to intervene to be a party in the suit.

The Kelantan government had filed a suit in 2010 naming Petronas as the defendant, where it alleged breach of contract in not paying the oil royalty

Agreed questions posed

Below are the agreed questions posed by the Kelantan government.

  • Whether the test for the application of Order 14A Rules of the High Court 1980 in Petronas versus the Terengganu government applies to Order 14A Rules of Court 2012, and if not what is the applicable test in light of several court decisions in other cases.
  • Second, whether in the circumstances of this case Order 14A procedure is appropriate:- (I) where there are serious factual disputes and the material facts can only be ascertained by cross-examination of witnesses at trial, and (II) where numerous written laws have to be interpreted.
  • Thirdly whether Order 14A proceedings should only be determined after the parties have completed discovery of documents in their writ action so that all evidence is before the court prior to the disposal of the said Order 14A proceedings, and
  • What is the true scope and extent of Order 24 rules 4 and 8 of the Rules of Court 2012 which provide that a court may delay discovery (of documents) pending the determination of an issue of questions; and following from this, whether the courts below were correct in relying on Order 24 Rule 4 Rules of the High Court 1980 (now Order 24 Rule 4 Rules of Court 2012, read with Order 24 Rule 8, Rules of the High Court 1980 (now Order 24 Rule 8, Rules of Court 2012) in not ordering discovery at that stage of the proceedings.

NONE No dates have been fixed for the hearing of the appeal to decide on these questions posed.

Husam ( left ), in commenting on today’s procceding, said they wanted a full trial be held to facilitate the calling of witnesses in court.

Among the witnesses they intend to call were former Petronas chairperson and Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and former Lord President Salleh Abbas, who played a role in the Petronas Development Agreement between states.

Red-clad Kelantanese in Putrajaya for oil royalty ruling