Zuraida moves to set aside Federal Court leave in PKR bond case

Former Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin wants the Federal Court to rehear PKR’s application for leave to appeal a Court of Appeal ruling that slashed her liability to the party from RM10 million to RM100,000.

PUTRAJAYA: Former Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin has asked the Federal Court to review its decision granting PKR leave to appeal a Court of Appeal ruling that slashed her liability under a party bond from RM10 million to RM100,000.

She is seeking to have the Federal Court set aside its order issued earlier this year and to rehear PKR’s leave application.

A notice of motion sighted by FMT revealed that the application, premised on Rule 137 of the Federal Court Rules 1995, was filed last month.

The grounds of the application were not made known to FMT.

Rule 137 recognises the Federal Court’s inherent power to review its previous decisions in order to prevent an injustice or an abuse of process.

Lawyer Navpreet Singh, appearing for PKR and its former secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, said the apex court would hear the application on Dec 11.

He also said PKR’s appeal was fixed to be heard on Feb 13.

On June 24, a three-member apex bench led by Justice Nallini Pathmanathan allowed PKR’s leave application on a single question of law.

The question asked whether a court could override a factual admission that a specified sum represents the value received under a contract, in order to determine what constitutes reasonable compensation in the circumstances of the case.

Justices Nordin Hassan and Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera were also on the panel that heard the application.

PKR sued Zuraida in 2020, claiming she had breached a contractual bond by joining Bersatu following the Sheraton Move in February that year.

The terms of the bond required Zuraida to pay PKR RM10 million within seven days if she resigned from the party to join another political party or became an independent candidate.

In her defence, Zuraida claimed that the bond violated her constitutional right to freedom of association.

On June 23, 2023, the Kuala Lumpur High Court allowed PKR’s suit and entered judgment in favour of PKR for RM10 million, holding that Zuraida had breached the terms of the bond signed with the party prior to the 2018 general election.

On Dec 11, 2024, the Court of Appeal overturned that ruling. It held the RM10 million sum was “unreasonable”, and instead awarded PKR RM100,000, being election expenses incurred in connection with Zuraida’s contest in Ampang.

On June 24, the Federal Court granted PKR leave to appeal the Court of Appeal decision.