KUALA LUMPUR, April 23 ― The High Court today has allowed Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) to continue with its legal challenge against the Registrar of Societies, party president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today.

Muhyiddin said the High Court in Kuala Lumpur had dismissed the Attorney-General’s Chambers’ preliminary objection against PPBM’s lawsuit from being heard.

“This means that PPBM has been allowed by the court to continue its challenge against RoS that was wrong in its conduct towards PPBM,” he said in a statement today.

Muhyiddin said the court’s decision to stay the RoS’s one-month provisional dissolution of PPBM meant that the political party could still function as a legitimate party.

“The court has also stayed the RoS order that purportedly temporarily dissolves PPBM.

“With this, PPBM is free to continue its struggle to bring change in GE14. There are no obstructions for PPBM to function as a legitimate political party,” he said.

On April 13, PPBM’s secretary Sharuddin Md Salleh had filed a judicial review application against RoS director-general Surayati Ibrahim.

Sharuddin had sought for 26 court orders, including the quashing of RoS’s April 5 provisional dissolution order and to bar the RoS from making the order absolute or to revoke PPBM’s registration.

Sharuddin had also sought a court order to bar the RoS from taking further steps to block the PPBM from contesting in GE14 as a legitimate political party.

Under the Societies Act, a provisional order for dissolution that is made absolute will cause a society to be deemed an unlawful society and to have its registration cancelled.

PPBM’s application for leave for judicial review was heard last Friday before High Court judge Datuk Azizah Nawawi.

In today’s written judgment sighted by Malay Mail, Azizah said there was no issue with Sharuddin’s legal standing as he is PPBM’s secretary and there was also no issue with time as the lawsuit was filed within the required three-month period.

The judge found that PPBM’s Sharuddin had shown an “arguable case” and that it should be granted leave for hearing.

Noting several factual allegations by PPBM of the RoS’s alleged “illegal” April 5 decision to provisionally dissolve the party, the judge said this would require RoS’ explanation.

The judge noted senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan had on behalf of RoS argued that PPBM should be denied leave for judicial review, as the political party should first exhaust the statutory remedy under Section 18 of the Societies Act of appealing to the Home Minister within 30 days of RoS’s decision.

But the judge said there were “special circumstances” based on the facts of the case, further saying that February news reports had appeared to indicate then Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as having asked the RoS “to not just initiate an investigation but to step up the probe” on RoS.

While saying the allegations of bias against the home minister were yet to be proven at this stage, Azizah said it cannot be envisioned that a person to be “fair and unbiased” if they had asked RoS to initiate and step up investigations and had knowledge of the resulting findings.

Citing the allegations by PPBM, Azizah said there could be a “breach of natural justice” if the minister is to hear the political party’s appeal on RoS’ decision, adding that it would be an exception to the general rule that judicial review is not an option when there is an alternative remedy of appeal.

As for PPBM’s stay application, Azizah noted that Sharuddin is representing a “political party which aspires to contest in the coming general election”.

“If the stay is not granted and PPBM remain provisionally dissolved, it may cause irreparable damage to the political party in its attempt to provide an alternative choice for the voters.

“As such, I am of the considered opinion that the RoS decision dated 5.4.2018 must be stayed pending the disposal of the substantive application,” she wrote in her judgment.

Case management for the case has been fixed on May 7.

PPBM is one of four political parties in the federal opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH).

PPBM’s provisional dissolution by the RoS had disrupted PH’s legal bid to have the RoS respond to the pact’s application to be officially registered.

The nomination day for GE14 is on April 28, with advance voting on May 5 and polling day on May 9.