High Court should hear Maria Chin's application: Lawyer

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court should hear a judicial review application on a travel ban imposed on Maria Chin Abdullah although the ban has been lifted as it involves constitutional rights.
Lawyer Gurdial Singh, who represented Maria, told the judge that the court still has the jurisdiction to hear the case, although the matter has become "academic".
"This court can proceed with the matter as it involves 'discretion'," he said, adding there is no assurance that a similar ban will not be imposed on Maria in future.
"There is no reason to 'blacklist' her without giving her the right to be heard," he said.
He said Section 59 of the Immigration Act, which states that no person and no member of a class of persons shall be given an opportunity of being heard before the minister or the director, violates fundamental rights.
He said Section 59 precludes the right to be heard, offends the principles of natural justice firmly embedded in Article 5 and Article 8 of the Federal Constitution.
"Constitutional provisions always supersede legislative provisions, and therefore section 59 is unconstitutional," he said.
High Court judge Datuk Nik Hasmat Nik Mohamad will deliver her decision on the matter on April 27.
In reply, Senior Federal Counsel Shamsul Bolhassan asked the court to dismiss the application on the grounds that the matter has now become academic and is an exercise of futility.
He said the reliefs sought are now rendered academic as the "blacklisting" as been lifted since May 17, 2016.
On July 28, 2016, Maria, who is electoral watchdog Bersih 2.0 head, had filed a judicial review against the director-general of Immigration and Minister of Home Affairs over a decision to blacklist her from travelling overseas, which was informed to her on the day she was scheduled to depart to South Korea on May 15, 2016.