RM100,000 hurdle for Siva
(NST) IPOH: The "speaker versus speaker" court battle between Datuk R. Ganesan of Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat's V. Sivakumar has taken a new twist.
Ganesan will be asking the High Court to force his pre-decessor to provide security for costs, amounting to RM100,000, before the hearings begin in the case filed by Sivakumar, over who is the legitimate speaker of the Perak state assembly.
On May 15, Sivakumar filed a statement of claim seeking two injunctions against his successor.
The first was to stop Ganesan "and/or his agents or servants" from denying, prohibiting and obstructing him (Sivakumar) in exercising his duties as the speaker and the other, to stop Ganesan from instructing or ordering "any further abuse, assault and/or battery by (Ganesan) and/or his agents or servants".
Ganesan's impending move to file the application at the High Court follows the refusal by Sivakumar to provide the security upon Ganesan's request through a letter dated on Tuesday.
The letter was received by Chan and Associates, which is acting for Sivakumar, at 4.40pm the same day. It was sent by the law firm of Ong-Hanim and Badrul, which is acting for Ganesan, on the eve of the hearing of the case between the two speakers, which was scheduled to start yesterday.
However, the case was postponed to July 17 by judge Datuk Azhar Mohamed from the Kuala Lumpur High Courts at the request of Ganesan's team of lawyers, led by Datuk Hafarizam Harun.
Ganesan yesterday confirmed he had asked his lawyers to ask Sivakumar to provide the security for costs.
"There are provisions under the law for me to ask for security for costs even before the trial proper begins.
"Since he (Sivakumar) has refused to pay the amount, I have instructed my lawyers to file the application."
Ganesan is also seeking at the same time to strike out Sivakumar's application.
When asked why he was asking for security for costs, he repeatedly said the move was allowed under the law. Ganesan's lawyers, who in earlier cases had been forthcoming in giving interviews to the press, left the High Court without speaking to reporters.
Chan Kok Keong, Sivakumar's lead counsel, said Ganesan's request certainly looked "out of the ordinary".
Later, in a press release distributed to reporters by his lawyers, Sivakumar said he may not be able to pay the sum if the court orders him to do so.
"This will cause me undue hardship," he said.
