PETALING JAYA, July 26 — The Home Ministry’s decision to suspend The Edge Media Group’s two publications can still be challenged in court although the Printing Presses and Publication Act 1984 says such rulings are final.

Lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad said Section 13A(1) of the Act which says such decisions are “final and shall not be called in question by any court ...” does not stop The Edge from going ahead with its plan to file a judicial review tomorrow.

“It’s not necessarily final, if it can be proved by the party facing suspension the minister acted in bad faith or outside the scope of the Act,” said Amer Hamzah, who has experience in public interest litigation.

He said there was precedent in the matter when MalaysiaKini, in 2012, successfully applied for a judicial review against the Home Ministry’s decision to reject its application for a publishing permit.

High Court Judge Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim had then ruled the ministry’s decision was ‘improper and irrational’ saying the decision was misdirected and exceeded the limit of its jurisdiction.

“With reference to the MalaysiaKini ruling, that was a refusal to grant a permit but this (The Edge) is merely a suspension order.”

He described the suspension as a form of censorship, with the aim of stifling access to information and freedom of expression.

“We cannot have a situation where a decision made in bad faith cannot be challenged. This goes against the principles of justice,” he said.