Zuraida

PUTRAJAYA — The Federal Court here today granted Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) leave to appeal against the appellate court’s decision to reduce the bond payment owed by its former vice-president Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin (picture) from RM10 million to RM100,000 in a party bond breach case.

The leave application was allowed by the Federal Court’s three-panel judges comprising Tan Sri Nallini Pathmanathan, Datuk Nordin Hassan and Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera, which is a prerequisite for matters proceeding to the Federal Court.

The appeal will centre on a single question of law, which was amended by the bench during today’s hearing.

The question allowed to be argued in the substantive appeal is whether a party (A) to a financial bond, agrees to pay a certain sum of money as liquidated damages to (B) upon the happening of a certain event and; admits in a recital to such financial bond, that, the sum of money represented the value that (A) had received from (B), can have the court override such admission of fact and proceed to decide whether that sum constitutes reasonable compensation, taking into account the peculiar nature of the relationship between the parties.

On Dec 11 last year, the appellate court three-man bench led by Judge Datuk See Mee Chun upheld the High Court’s ruling that Zuraida had breached the bond but reduced the quantum payment from RM10 million to RM100,000.

Previously, in Jun 23, 2023, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur ruled in favour of PKR and ordered Zuraida, who is the former Ampang Member of Parliament, to pay RM10 million in accordance with the bond’s terms. The presiding judge, Datuk Akhtar Tahir, held that the bond was a valid and binding contract.

The lawsuit was initiated in 2020, by PKR’s secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, on behalf of the party, claiming Zuraida had violated the terms of a bond she signed before contesting in the 14th General Election in 2018.

Under the bond, among others, Zuraida was required to pay PKR RM10 million to the party within seven days if she resigned from PKR, joined another political party, or became an independent representative after being elected on the party’s ticket.

In her defence, Zuraida contended that she was forced to sign the bond with the party to be able to stand for election as a candidate in the general election under the PKR banner.

In today’s proceeding, PKR was represented by lawyers Ranjit Singh, William Leong, Navpreet Singh, Sakina Siraj, Chew Chun Man and Liew Hong Wei, while Zuraida was represented by counsels Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun, Nurul Najwa Zainuddin and Muhammad Firdaus Shaik Alauddin. — BERNAMA