In a statement today, Latheefa Koya said the state was informed during case management before Court of Appeal registrar Surya Wati Shawal that the Chief Justice had ordered the hearing to be set before Hari Raya which is likely on June 25.
The EC is appealing against a Kuala Lumpur High Court decision to compel the agency to provide details on changes in the locality of voters in the last two redelineation exercises in 1993 and 2004.
The Selangor government is also appealing against the same court decision to dismiss the state’s bid to compel EC chairman Hashim Abdullah to give evidence in response to the redelineation in the state.
Latheefa said the court gave the parties three dates between June 19 and 21 for the hearing.
“We informed the court that we are unable to agree to any of those dates,” she said.
However, the court insisted to hear the appeals on June 20 and ordered them to file their written submissions by June 15, she said.
Latheefa said there must be an explanation on why these dates were being insisted upon although the state’s lawyers had informed the court that they were unsuitable.
She added that the Court of Appeal is also scheduled on June 20 to hear EC’s appeal against the Melaka High Court’s order to halt its local inquiry hearings in the state.
The PKR-led Selangor government filed a legal challenge in October last year, seeking to nullify the EC’s notice of redelineation, claiming it violated the Federal Constitution in drawing new electoral boundaries.
The state government also wants a declaration that the notice is lacking in details and will cause voters, local authorities or the state to be unable to exercise their constitutional rights to file representations.
It wants the court to quash the EC’s notice and direct it to publish a fresh notice on the proposed exercise.
The EC published an 18-page notice in major newspapers last September on the proposed redelineation in peninsular Malaysia and Sabah.
The High Court had on December 16 granted the Selangor government leave to challenge the EC’s redelineation exercise.
In Melaka, seven voters from the Kota Melaka and Bukit Katil constituencies had also filed a judicial review against the EC on April 4.
The Melaka High Court granted leave to the voters on May 3 while issuing a stay order to the EC on conducting local inquiries pending the disposal of the suit.
EC head need not give evidence in judicial review, rules court