Lawyer Surenthra Ananth, representing Nurul Izzah Anwar and 10 other voters, said judge Azizul Azmi Adnan refused the application as there were no special circumstances to stay the hearing,

“The Feb 15 hearing of the judicial review application is maintained,” Surenthra Ananth told reporters after proceedings in chambers.

Government lawyer Suzana Atan confirmed the application was thrown out.

The Court of Appeal, however, has scheduled Feb 13 to hear the AG’s appeal against the decision of the High Court which granted leave to Nurul to hear the judicial review.

In allowing the application last month, Azizul had said the application was not frivolous and the applicants had legal standing to file the case.

He said the Election Commission (EC) was only involved in a decision-making process and it was susceptible to judicial review by the court.

The applicants who filed the judicial review application last November had named the EC, its chairman Mohd Hashim Abdullah and secretary Abdul Ghani Salleh as respondents.

They are challenging the EC’s redelineation exercise proposal.

Nurul said the redelineation exercise went against the fundamental principle of “one person, one vote, one value”.

“But 59 years after Merdeka, Malaysia has become increasingly notorious for gerrymandering and apportioning seats that would favour the incumbent,” she said.

On Sept 15, the EC advertised a notice in major newspapers on redrawing election boundaries for the peninsula and Sabah.

Currently, the EC is conducting an inquiry to prepare its report to be submitted to Parliament, which must be done within 24 months.