KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 ― Three voters in Hulu Selangor failed in their bid to quash a decision by the Election Commission (EC) in altering the  boundaries of the Kuala Kubu Bahru (KKB) and Batang Kali constituencies, which they claimed had prejudiced their right to vote.

This followed a decision by Judicial Commissioner of the High Court, Azizul Azmi Adnan yesterday in dismissing the leave application for a judicial review brought by P.Maradeveran, Zahar Rusuli and Yong Chan Hee to quash the EC's decision.

Lawyer Joanne Chua, represented the three voters, said the court dismissed the application on grounds that it was filed out of time under Order 53(3) of the Rules of Court 2012.

When contacted she said the court found that three-month time limit starting from the publication of the Gazette on April 29, 2016, was not met.

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“Our position is that time started running from the date we received the letter from EC on August 8, 2016. The application was filed on October 21, 2016.

Hence, the court found that the application was filed out of time,” she said.

Under Order 53(3) of the Rules of Courts 2012, an application for judicial review shall be made within three months from the date when the ground of application arose.

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The court made the ruling after allowing the Attorney General's Chambers preliminary objection against the leave application.

Senior Federal Counsel Datuk Armajeet Singh, Suzana Atan and Azizan Md Arshad acted for EC, the respondent in the case.

On October 21, last year, the three had filed for the leave application, among others, seeking an order of certiorari to quash the EC's decision in altering the constituency of registered voters and an order to quash the EC's decision in altering the constituency of registered voters from Batang Kali to KKB and vice versa.

They also sought an order to quash a decision by the EC in altering the constituency boundaries of KKB and Batang Kali.

In the application, the three voters said that on April 29 2016, the EC had published a notice vide the Federal Gazette to inform on the alteration of polling district in constituencies carried out under Section 7(2) of the Elections Petition Act 1958.

The first and second defendant claimed that on July 24 2016, they had discovered that their polling constituency was changed from Batang Kali to KKB and therefore they had written to EC stating that their right to vote had been severely prejudice.

The third applicant stated that as an elector, she had been adversely affected by the alteration of electors from Batang Kali to KKB. ― Bernama