Gerakan takes Kelantan govt to court over hudud
(The Star) – Two Barisan Nasional component parties are gearing to challenge PAS’ attempt to implement hudud on two fronts in court.
While Gerakan has filed an originating summons at the Kota Baru High Court for a declaration that the Syariah Criminal Code II 1993 is illegal and void, MCA is planning to challenge it once it becomes law.
Three Kelantan Gerakan members – Tuan Mat Tuan Wil, Soh Hoon Lee and Chun Mon Sie – filed their suit at 10am yesterday. They named the Kelantan government as defendants.
They are seeking a declaration in accordance with Articles 76 and 76(A) of the Federal Constitution that the Syariah Criminal Code II 1993 is illegal and void because it contravenes the Constitution.
The trio are also seeking a declaration that amendment bill for the criminal code tabled at the State Legislative Assembly yesterday was also illegal and invalid.
They said state legislature did not have powers to promulgate such laws and that the code was ultra vires the Constitution.
Later, Gerakan National Youth deputy chief Andy Yong said the summons was a preliminary move to prevent the tabling of the two Private Member’s Bills in Parliament to amend Article 76(A)(1) of the Federal Constitution to give powers to the state government to implement and enforce hudud in the state.
“The Kelantan government started the first move today and similarly we also have taken the first step to prevent it from happening by taking the state to court,” he said.
In Kuala Lumpur, MCA’s Syariah Law & Policy Implementation Special Task Force chairman Gan Ping Siew said the party might take legal action against PAS once the hudud enactment becomes law.
Gan said the task force would recommend to the party’s Central Committee to commence legal action against the Kelantan government once the enactment became law.
“Offences under the penal code cannot be legislated in a state assembly,” he said, explaining that criminal justice fell under the province of federal law.
Gan added that hudud also contravened Article 8 of the Federal Constitution on equality when it came to meting out punishments to Muslims and non-Muslims.
“By stealing a vehicle, for example, a Muslim accomplice would have one hand left (the other being amputated as punishment). But a non-Muslim criminal would have both hands intact.”
On the matter of several Kelantan Umno assemblymen showing commitment to PAS’ implementation of hudud, he urged the Barisan Supreme Council to uphold the coalition’s stand on hudud.
Gan said MCA would reach its “tipping point” if Umno decided to push for hudud. “If I have a say, I would invite all the rest of Barisan to break away from Umno,” he said.
“When Malaysia was formed, with the inclusion of Sabah and Sarawak, surely this was not the law they would have accepted,” he said, adding that many Barisan component parties had made clear their objections on hudud.
Gan explained that if Umno were to support hudud, then the party would have had broken the consensus reached during the formation of Malaysia: “MCA has a historical duty to do the necessary (break away).”
