July 19 hearing for contempt of court bid against Tengku Adnan

KUALA LUMPUR: The application by 16 former members of UMNO for leave to start contempt of court proceedings against the party's secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor will be heard at the High Court here on July 19.
The applicants' lawyer Irzan Iswat Mohd Nor said Justice Datuk Nordin Hassan set the date during the case management in chambers today.
The individuals filed the committal order application following Tengku Adnan's media statement carried by Mstar news portal on April 21 that UMNO had terminated their memberships, which according to them was an attempt to frustrate their bid to obtain leave for judicial review to challenge the legality of the party.
In their ex-parte application, the 16 claimed that the contents of the media statement amounted to contempt as the court at the time had not made any decision on their judicial review application.
On April 27, the High Court rejected their application for leave for judicial review to challenge UMNO's legality. They had alleged that the party violated its constitution by failing to hold branch, division and supreme council elections for almost five years.
Justice Datuk Wira Kamaludin Md Said made the ruling after allowing preliminary objection by the Attorney-General's Chambers which was acting for the Registrar of Societies as first respondent and Datuk Ab Rauf Yusoh as second respondent in his capacity as an official of UMNO.
The judge ruled that the court did not have jurisdiction to hear conflicts among members of political parties, and based on Section 18C of the Societies Act 1966, a political party's decisions may not be brought to court to be challenged, appealed, revised, cancelled or questioned. — Bernama