His lawyer Gurdial Singh Nijar said they wanted a short adjournment to make the representation since a new attorney-general had just been appointed.
Gurdial added that he would be writing to the AGC for clarification on whether an MP could be disqualified for being fined RM2,000 under Article 48 (1) (f) of the Federal Constitution.
“There are three court decisions, including a Federal Court judgment, that one is still qualified if fined RM2,000,” he told reporters.
This followed the decision by a three-man Court of Appeal bench chaired by Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim to adjourn Tian Chua’s appeal pending the representation.
The bench allowed the application with no objection from government lawyer Amarjeet Singh.
On April 28, returning officer Anwar Mohd Zain disqualified Tian Chua from defending his Batu parliamentary seat on grounds that he had been fined RM2,000 for an offence the month before.
However, Tian Chua, who filed an affidavit to support his action, said it was settled law that a RM2,000 fine did not affect his eligibility as a candidate.
He said in the 2013 election, the returning officer had allowed him to file his nomination paper despite a previous conviction and fine of RM2,000.
On May 4, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that it had no jurisdiction to determine whether Tian Chua was qualified to contest in the general election.
Justice Nordin Hassan, in allowing the preliminary objection by the Election Commission, said he had found that Tian Chua’s complaint was an election dispute.
He added that Article 118 of the Federal Constitution said that any dispute of the election of persons to the state and federal legislative assemblies should be determined through an election petition.