A three-man bench chaired by Umi Kalthum Abdul Majid fixed the new date after the panel was informed that counsel Ambiga Sreenevasan, who conducted the case in the High Court, was engaged in a trial in Kuala Lumpur.
“She is involved in a continuing three-day hearing that started yesterday. A foreigner, who is a principal witness, is also involved,” lawyer Tommy Thomas told the bench.
Thomas said he was not in a position to conduct the appeal for the Selangor government as he was involved in the High Court.
He said Ambiga, who is also appearing for seven voters from Melaka, could not be rushed as the appeal dates had been initially fixed in July.
“The voters have a right to be represented by a counsel of their choice,” he said, adding that the seven plaintiffs had not asked for the case to be brought forward.
Government lawyer Amerjeet Singh said he had no objection to the case being adjourned to another date.
However, he said, if the case was adjourned all local enquiries in Melaka by the EC would be delayed as the voters had obtained a stay.
Umi, in allowing the adjournment, said parties should be ready the next time around and that this included filing their written submissions.
The voters from the Kota Melaka and Bukit Katil parliamentary constituencies filed a judicial review against the EC on April 4.
The 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.
Also present in the packed courtroom were parliamentary opposition leader and PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, and Pakatan Harapan leaders and members.
Last week, the Malaysian Bar, which had expressed concern over the bringing forward of the appeal date, called on the judiciary to ensure that all cases dealing with challenges to the EC were conducted with the utmost transparency and integrity.
Meanwile, another Court of Appeal bench chaired by Mohd Zawawi Salleh adjourned hearing to July 20 to hear the EC’s appeal against the High Court order for refusing the Selangor government’s application to give evidence over the state’s judicial review application with regards to the redelineation exercise.
Thomas said Ambiga, who also appeared for the state government, was engaged involved in a civil case in Kuala Lumpur.
On March 9, Justice Azizul Azmi Adnan said the Selangor government’s application to cross-examine EC chairman Mohd Hashim Abdullah would be a fruitless exercise because he would not have the necessary information.
However, the judge allowed the state government’s application to provide information regarding the changes in locality of voters in the last two exercises – in 1993 and 2004.
The EC is cross-appealing Azizul’s ruling on this matter.
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.
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.