Gobind sues Govt, Speaker and others

KUALA LUMPUR, Apr 23, 2009 : Puchong Member of Parliament Gobind Singh Deo has filed a suit against the Dewan Rakyat Speaker, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, the Dewan Rakyat secretary and the Government of Malaysia. In the suit filed Thursday morning at the High Court here, he said his suspension from the House for a year, including losing his remunerations, was null and void.

In his summons filed at the High Corut registry through Messrs Karpal Singh & Co, he claimed tht his one-year suspension effective March 16 violated Article 8 (1) of the Federal Constitution. He named the Dewan Rakyat Speaker, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, Dewan Rakyat secretary and the Malaysian government as defendants.

He also filed for endorsement for his case to be heard as soon as possible to enable him to attend the next Dewan Rakyat sitting which will start on June 16. He seeks to declare that the letter dated March 18 and signed by the Dewan Rakyat secretary, Datuk Roosme Hamzah, suspending him as a MP and stripping him of all the allowances and benefits as an MP is null and void because it is unenforceable under the law. Gobind, 36, also wants a declaration that he is entitled to all those allowances and benefits under Article 64 and that the proceedings and decision of the Dewan Rakyat on March 16 are not immune to adjudication by the court. He is asking for costs and other reliefs deemed fit by the court.

In his affidavit, Gobind claimed that the Dewan Rakyat proceedings on March 16 violated human rights because he was not given a chance to counter the allegations in the motion tabled by Mohamed Mohamed Nazri to suspend him and deny him the allowances and benefits as an MP. He also said that the court had the jurisdiction to scrutinise the proceedings of the Dewan Rakyat because Article 64 of the Federal Constitution provided for the mandatory entitlement of an MP to the benefits as an MP.

Gobind's father, Karpal Singh, who represented him in the case, told reporters that the originating summons was filed following the Federal Court's decision last Thursday that Perak state assembly speaker V. Sivakumar's suspension of Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir and his state executive councillors was null and void.

He said that when he was suspend as Jelutong MP on Nov 22, 1984, in connection with his statement on the Sultan of Johor, he was not stopped from receiving his allowances and other benefits, Bernama reported.

Last month, Gobind was suspended from Parliament for a year for alleging that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who was then deputy premier, was involved in a murder case. He was also held to be in contempt of the House. The suspension came after the Dewan Rakyat voted for a motion against him. Gobind was told he would be paid any allowance or given any benefits accrued to MPs during the suspension.

It is believed that Gobind would using as precedent the Federal Court ruling last week that it has jurisdiction over the legislative powers of the Perak state assembly. In its landmark unanimous decision, the Federal Court ruled that Perak Assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar did not have the power to suspend Mentri Besar Datuk Dr Zambry Abd Kadir and his six executive council members from the assembly. The Court then lifted the suspension on Dr Zambry and his six executive council members and said the seven could attend the next assembly sitting.