The Court of Appeal has fixed March 29 to hear the Penang state government’s appeal against a government decree declaring its Voluntary Patrol Unit (PPS) illegal.

The lawyer representing the state government, Ganesan Nethi, told Malaysiakini of this following case management before deputy registrar Surya Wati Shawal this morning.

“All papers are in order, so we have fixed the hearing date,” he said when contacted today.

The Home Ministry had previously declared that the PPS is an illegal organisation as it is not a registered society.

The state government subsequently filed a judicial review against the order, and named home minister, the inspector-general of police, and the Malaysian government as respondents.

Among others, it sought a declaration that PPS was properly established by the state government under the Local Government Act 1976, and not a society under the Societies Act 1965.

However, the Penang High Court judge Hadhariah Syed Ismail had ruled against the Penang government, culminating in the appeal to be heard next month.

The judge had found that PPS was not registered under Section 101(b)(5) of the Local Government Act which requires societies to be registered, and said that the provision has to be read together with Section 2 of the Societies Act that requires societies to register under the Registrar of Societies.

She also noted that Section 5 of the Societies Act provides Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi with absolute discretion over the matter.