Federal Court upholds ruling quashing Kedah gambling outlet ban

The Federal Court today ended the Kedah government’s legal bid to enforce a blanket ban on gambling and lottery outlets in the state.

A three-member bench chaired by judge Rhodzariah Bujang unanimously dismissed Kedah’s application for leave to appeal, ruling that its proposed legal questions failed to meet the statutory threshold.

Together with judges Collin Lawrence Sequerah and Azmi Ariffin, the bench also ordered the state government to pay RM50,000 in costs, according to Free Malaysia Today.

The decision upholds a Court of Appeal majority ruling that found Kedah’s policy of refusing to renew gambling-related business licences unconstitutional for encroaching on federal powers.

Kedah’s appeal centred on whether the courts could review executive decisions and whether the state had constitutional powers under local government laws to impose the restrictions.

However, the Court of Appeal held that the regulation of gambling and lotteries falls exclusively under the Finance Ministry.

Court says state exceeded its powers

In last year’s majority judgment, judge Faizah Jamaluddin said the state had exceeded its administrative powers by targeting the underlying businesses rather than the premises they occupied.

“The refusal (to issue and renew business licences) reflected a policy objection to betting and lotteries, rather than concerns about the building or premises they occupied,” she said.

Under the Federal Constitution’s Ninth Schedule and the Local Government Act 1976, local authorities’ powers are confined to regulating premises and do not extend to imposing blanket prohibitions on particular trades.

The Court of Appeal ruling was delivered by a 2-1 majority, with Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Azizah Nawawi dissenting, holding that the state executive council had acted within its legal powers.

The legal battle began after affected pool betting agents, operators, and their officers sued the state over its abrupt refusal to renew their licences.

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