PUTRAJAYA — The Federal Court today dismissed Mohd Hatta Sanuri’s application for leave to appeal in his bid to reinstate a lawsuit over the cancellation of the Kuala Lumpur–Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) project.
A three-member bench comprising Justices Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof, Datuk Abu Bakar Jais and Datuk Hanipah Farikullah unanimously ruled that the legal questions posed failed to meet the threshold under Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964.
Delivering the court’s decision, Justice Zabariah held that the matter was interlocutory in nature and did not involve any novel legal issue or question of public importance.
She noted that the issues raised, specifically those relating to locus standi and justiciability, have been conclusively settled in existing case law.
Justice Zabariah further remarked that the court views frivolous legal claims with seriousness and observed that the questions of law submitted were verbose and lacked precision.
“If they (the questions) were drafted well, then maybe we could ventilate,” said Justice Zabariah in dismissing Mohd Hatta’s application for leave, with no order as to cost.
This decision effectively brings to an end Mohd Hatta’s legal challenge against the government, former prime ministers Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, former Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed and former Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
Mohd Hatta had sought leave to appeal the Court of Appeal’s decision on Jan 16, 2024, which upheld the High Court’s ruling that his suit was non-justiciable and disclosed no reasonable cause of action.
The High Court had earlier struck out the suit on Dec 15, 2023, after allowing the government’s application to dismiss the claim.
Acting in person and purporting to represent over 32 million Malaysians, Mohd Hatta filed the suit in December 2022, seeking to nullify the cancellation of the project and demanding compensation of RM1 million for each Malaysian over its termination.
The suit arose from the termination of the 350km HSR project, jointly announced by the governments of Malaysia and Singapore on Jan 1, 2021, following the parties’ failure to reach an agreement on proposed modifications before the expiry of the bilateral agreement on Dec 31, 2020.
The project had been envisioned to facilitate high-speed travel between the two countries within 90 minutes, inclusive of domestic and shuttle services.
Mohd Hatta was represented by counsel Mohaji Selamat, while senior federal counsel Donald Joseph Franklin appeared on behalf of the government. — BERNAMA
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