PUTRAJAYA: Datuk Seri Ahmad Hamzah (pic) of Barisan Nasional remains as Jasin MP after the Federal Court here dismissed an appeal by his opponent Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan.
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In the unanimous decision by a five-man bench, Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat said that while the apex court agreed there were some instances of non-compliance, the appellant had failed to prove that such non-compliance had affected the outcome of the polls for the seat in the 14th General Election.
“The appeal is accordingly dismissed with costs,” she said here on Thursday (Dec 12).
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Other judges on the bench were Chief Judge of Malaya Justice Azahar Mohamed and Federal Court judges Justices Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, P. Nallini and Vernon Ong.
The court also ordered Khairuddin to pay costs of RM30,000 to Ahmad as the first respondent, and RM50,000 to Jasin parliamentary seat returning officer Zamrud Yahya and the Election Commission (EC) as the second and third respondents.
When met by reporters, Khairuddin said he respected the court’s decision and thanked his lawyers.
“I have never left the Jasin constituency and I will continue to work hard to give the best service to the people,” he added.
On June 12, the Election Court ruled that Ahmad was the rightful Jasin MP after it rejected a petition filed by Khairuddin on grounds that the petitioner had failed to prove the element of non-compliance under the Election Offences Act 1954 had affected the result of the election.
Khairuddin was ordered to pay costs of RM200,000 to Ahmad and RM200,000 to Zamrud Yahya and the EC.
In the May 2018 General Election, Khairuddin lost to Ahmad by a 219-vote majority in a three-cornered fight.
Ahmad retained the seat with 26,560 votes, while Khairuddin garnered 26,341 and PAS candidate Abd Alim Shapie had 8,860 votes.
The following month, Khairuddin filed the petition for the court to declare the election result null and void and to order a fresh election to be held, claiming that Ahmad was not elected legally.
Khairuddin was represented by lawyer Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram. Lawyer Datuk Mohd Hafarizam Harun represented Ahmad and Datuk Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin represented Zamrud and the EC. -The Star