Apex court denies Gombak voters’ bid to reinstate suit against Azmin

Ten Gombak constituents failed to obtain leave from the Federal Court to proceed with an appeal to reinstate their civil action over Azmin Ali’s alleged breach of promises made in the run-up to the 14th general election.

A three-person bench chaired by Chief Judge of Malaya Azahar Mohamed unanimously dismissed the voters’ leave application this morning.

The voters' counsel Yohendra Nadarajan confirmed the decision by the bench, which also comprised judges Vernon Ong Lam Kiat and Rhodzariah Bujang.

The lawyer said the bench made the ruling on the reason that there were no new or novel issues of law from the matter which needed to be ventilated.

Besides Yohendra, the voters were also represented by counsel K Shanmuga and Surendra Ananth, while a legal team composed of Nizamuddin Hamid and Nurul Najwa Zainuddin acted for Azmin.

The constituents are seeking to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision on April 13 allowing an appeal by the Gombak MP to strike out the legal action.

Back on June 30 last year, the Kuala Lumpur High Court denied the application by Azmin, who is also the international trade and industry minister, to nullify the lawsuit.

The former PKR deputy president sought the striking-out as he claimed the suit violated his fundamental right to association under the Federal Constitution.

Azmin is now a Bersatu supreme council member.

In February 2020, Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin took his party out of Pakatan Harapan. He was joined by a group of PKR defectors led by Azmin in what was later dubbed the “Sheraton Move”.

This triggered the collapse of the Dr Mahathir Mohamad-led Harapan administration and the establishment of the Perikatan Nasional government.

Initially, Muhyiddin took over the premiership. But he later stepped down and Ismail Sabri Yaakob became prime minister.

Allegedly breached fiduciary duty

In late 2020, the 10 Gombak voters filed a suit against Azmin over an alleged breach of purported promises he made.

According to a copy of the suit, the 10 plaintiffs are seeking a total of nine court declarations, including how their elected representative owed them a fiduciary duty and had allegedly breached that duty.

A fiduciary duty typically refers to a relationship between a trustee and a beneficiary.

The plaintiffs further alleged that Azmin had violated their trust by working with BN in the Sheraton Move and causing the collapse of the Harapan government, despite having campaigned and won the Gombak parliamentary seat on a PKR/Harapan ticket.

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