Judge Badariah Sahamid, who chaired a three-member panel with Kamardin Hashim and Zabariah Mohd Yusof, said the court found no reason to depart from the decision of the lower court.

“Section 18 C of the Societies Act explicitly says that party matters are final and conclusive and cannot be reviewed by the court,” she said in delivering the panel’s unanimous decision.

The group’s bid to initiate a judicial review was dismissed by the High Court in April.

Badariah said the case laws on the Semenyih Jaya Sdn Bhd land dispute and the conversion of kindergarten teacher M Indira Gandhi’s children, cited by the group’s lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdulla in the attempt to bring the case back to the High Court, had no connection to Section 18 C.

In both cases, the Federal Court had ruled that any provisions which ousted judicial powers for review were unconstitutional.

The appeals court today made no order to costs.

The group sought to question Umno’s legality weeks before the May 9 general election, claiming the party had breached its constitution by delaying elections beyond the permissible period.

They said the party should hold elections every three years, and that the leadership could only delay the polls for a period of 18 months.

They were later sacked by Umno for taking the party to court.

Umno held its party elections in June, after losing federal power. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was elected as president and Mohamad Hassan as deputy president.

Speaking to reporters outside the court, Haniff said the former members would file an appeal to the Federal Court.

“Because this involves issues related to the Federal Constitution, we will let the highest court decide if our case has any merit,” he said.