KOTA KINABALU – Lawyer Tengku Datuk Fuad Ahmad, representing the Sabah government, has no right to intervene in Putrajaya’s appeal against the high court’s decision to grant Sabah Law Society (SLS) leave to challenge the 40% Special Interim Grant provisions.
State Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan told Scoop that Fuad has no standing to speak on the state government’s behalf as he was not appointed to work on the case.
“I totally do not agree with what Fuad said. The Sabah government never appointed him on this 40% issue. So, he cannot speak for the government as he has no locus standi.
“The Sabah government has been supporting efforts made by the SLS all this while.”
Despite being a member of the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah government, Kitingan said that he had discussed the matter with Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Md Noor and other party leaders and that a follow-up statement would be issued shortly.
This came after a “surprise” appearance by Fuad at the high court here yesterday, where he submitted an application to intervene.
An intervention refers to the procedure of an outside party, who were not original parties, joining a case.
The Attorney-General’s Chambers did not raise any objections yesterday to the intervention application, but SLS’ counsels, Dr David Fung, Jeyan T.M. Marimuttu, and Janice Junie Lim, objected.
SLS argued that the Sabah government had no right to be heard since the appeal was only concerning the leave application.
Fuad argued that the intervention was necessary to prevent the risk that the Sabah government’s rights to challenge the 40% special grant provisions could be extinguished without ever being heard.
He said there was no need for SLS to make a judicial review because the Sabah government is already cooperating with the federal government to review matters about the Sabah special grant.
Since yesterday, Fuad’s actions have invited heavy criticism from the people of Sabah, as locals would support SLS in fighting for Sabah’s rights, but the Sabah government’s intervention is viewed negatively as it would stop SLS’ application for a judicial review.
The Court of Appeal adjourned its decision on the federal government’s appeal against the leave granted to SLS. – May 17, 2024