Their lawyer R Kengadharan said he had also asked Judge Akhtar Tahir to provide the grounds of judgment and notes of evidence in striking out the suit.

“We can only file the memorandum of appeal that outlines where the judge had gone wrong in law and facts after getting the judgment and notes,” he told FMT today.

A copy of the notice has also been sent to Hadi’s solicitors, Yusfarizal Aziz & Zaid.

Kengadharan said he will also file a stay order on Akhtar’s ruling that Maklin Masiau and Lawrence Jomiji Kinsil @ Maximilhian need to pay RM50,000 each in costs.

“We will appear before Akhtar and make submissions on why costs need not be paid immediately,” he said.

Akhtar, in his oral judgment on Friday, allowed Hadi’s application to annul the suit, saying that Maklin and Lawrence did not have the locus standi and their action was frivolous and an abuse of the court process.

He said the court should impose punitive costs as this was a frivolous case that could choke the justice system with unnecessary litigation.

Akhtar said Maklin and Lawrence should be blamed for “seditious tendencies” for resurrecting a matter which took place in 2016.

He said Hadi’s statement was directed towards Christian missionaries who allegedly paid money to convert people, and not Christians in general.

Maklin and Lawrence had wanted a declaration that Hadi had committed an offence under Section 3 of the Sedition Act, and that he is unfit to hold any position in government.

In their originating summons, they claimed that Hadi had made a seditious statement in the PAS newsletter Harakah on Jan 18, 2016 against Christians and/or Christian missionaries.

In their affidavit to support their action, they also said Hadi’s statement was published by FMT on the same day.