Lawyer J Shamesh said judge Mariana Yahaya today allowed his client’s leave application for judicial review that was filed in late November.

“The court will now proceed to hear the substantive application,” Shamesh told FMT, adding that the judge has fixed Jan 20 for case management.

Shamesh said the Attorney-General’s Chambers had also ordered the affidavit to be filed in response to Hew’s complaint.

Hew asked the court to quash the minister’s order on Oct 23 under the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA), which was gazetted that same day in the federal gazette.

He also sought a court declaration that Section 7 (1) of the PPPA was unconstitutional, as well as an order for the government to return all copies of the comic book previously seized.

Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said ministry officials had seized over 2,000 copies of the book, titled “Belt and Road Initiative for Win Winism”.

The government said “the contents of the book can be detrimental to public order and safety”, adding that the comic book had elements that might encourage support and sympathy for the communist struggle.

Hew’s comic book drew criticism after news that 2,500 copies in Bahasa Malaysia had been distributed to school libraries as reference material.

Hew, also known as “Superman”  for wearing T-shirts featuring the superhero logo, was also questioned by the police as part of their investigation into the pro-China comic book.