Committee chairman Salahuddin Ayub said proceedings would begin on Aug 11.

“PSC believes the Sulu heirs’ claim is a very serious matter.

“If this case is not handled well, it risks affecting the country’s interests,” he told reporters at a press conference at Parliament.

Last week, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Harun thrice rejected a motion to debate the matter raised by Kota Belud MP Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis.

She was later booted from the lower house and suspended for two days after refusing to back down.

A closed-door briefing was also held for MPs at the Seri Pacific Hotel in Kuala Lumpur regarding the Sulu heirs’ claim.

The motions for a debate and the briefing for MPs came in the wake of two writs of seizure obtained against Petronas subsidiaries in Azerbaijan based on a French arbitration court decision in March in favour of the Sulu heirs.

The heirs had filed a claim for US$15 billion (about RM66 billion) in compensation after Malaysia suspended annual payments to them for ceding sovereignty over Sabah in 1878.

Salahuddin, who is also Pulai MP, said PSC’s meeting was crucial in view of the rejected motions to debate the matter in the Dewan Rakyat.

He said the committee would act as the “check and balance” on the government’s handling of the case, adding that PSC would call up any witness it sees fit.