“The decision to close down the club is irrational,” judicial commissioner Arik Sanusi Yeop Johari said in his oral ruling delivered in an online proceeding this afternoon.

He also ordered RoS to pay RM10,000 in costs to club president Jagjit Singh who filed the action on behalf of the club on Feb 14, 2020.

Jagjit had named the RoS director-general, Kedah RoS director, RoS, Kedah state secretary and the state government as respondents.

Lawyers V Manokaran, V Nadarajan and N Yohendra represented Jagjit and the club.

Senior federal counsel Aliza Jamaluddin appeared for RoS while Norhayati Ibrahim represented the state government.

The club, established in 1922 under the patronage of the Sultan of Kedah, is located on a 20ha site with a nine-hole golf course.

Subsequent to complaints by several members about irregularities in the conduct of the annual general meeting in 2019, the club was notified about the cancellation of its registration via a letter from RoS dated Jan 22, 2020.

On Feb 2, 2020 the club’s premises were sealed by the authorities and the following week, the Kedah state secretary announced that the government was taking over the land.

Jagjit had obtained a court order in 2020 for the committee members to enter the premises and maintain the club’s premises and facilities until the disposal of the judicial review hearing (today).

Yohendra said the club, which has 2,000 members, was running at a loss since there were no income-generating activities such as operating its food and beverage outlet.

“The committee had to spend RM1.6 million over the last two years to maintain the club and pay the salary of the staff,” he said, adding that members had every reason to celebrate its 100th anniversary following today’s court ruling.