Ex-MP’s decision legal, say lawyers

PETALING JAYA: The decision by a former Umno MP to serve an originating summons to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia is legal as he is subject to laws under the Federal Constitution.
Human rights lawyer Syahredzan Johan said the latest attempt is one of several efforts to bring parliamentary matters to court proceeding.
"A group of individuals have tried prior to stop a version of the (PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang's) private bill," he told theSun today.
Syahredzan said the efforts which caused the previous cases to be shot down in the courts were due to Article 63(1) of the Federal Constitution.
"It provides that the validity of any proceedings in Parliament cannot be questioned in any court.
"This means the court would not have jurisdiction to do anything including stopping any proceedings in Parliament."
Meanwhile, Bar Council president George Varughese said while legal action is the right of a citizen, the decision on the matter can only be determined by the courts.
Their responses came after Pandikar Amin was served with an originating summons by Mohamed Tawfik Ismail in an attempt to disallow the tabling of the private member's bill to amend Act 355 in Parliament.
The papers had called for Pandikar Amin to remove the bill from the order list and to not allow it to be tabled and discussed in the House.
Tawfik in a press conference later said the suit was brought because the tabling of the bill would breach provisions in the Federal Constitution, especially as it did not receive the approval from the the Conference of Rulers.
He had on March 31 filed a suit seeking to declare the bill, which was tabled by PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, as unconstitutional.
The suit had named Pandikar Amin and Dewan Rakyat secretary Datuk Roosme Hamzah as defendants.