A three-member bench chaired by Justice Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera said the question of Syed Iskandar Syed Jaafar’s appeal to the Court of Appeal becoming nugatory did not arise.
This is because the appeal will be heard by a Court of Appeal panel on Nov 14, five days before the polls.
“All issues could be determined on that day,” said Vazeer.
He said the “balance of convenience” favoured the respondents and, therefore, the injunction ought not to be granted.
The respondents named were Prime Minister Isamil Sabri Yaakob, the government and the EC chairman.
Justices M Gunalan and Mariana Yahya also sat on the panel.
Today’s decision means the nomination process for the 222 parliament seats nationwide and 116 state assembly seats in Perlis, Perak and Pahang can proceed tomorrow.
Vazeer said no purpose will be served to grant the stay of the High Court ruling as there was no order or judgment entered against Syed Iskandar or directing the respondents from carrying out or prohibiting them from carrying out any acts.
“In our considered view, there is nothing to be stayed, arising from the High Court decision to dismiss the leave application for judicial review,” he said.
He said Syed Iskandar also failed to establish the requirements under Section 44 of the Courts of Judicature Act for the court to issue an injunction which would have the effect of stopping all preparations currently under way for the polls.
Syed Iskandar, a voter in the Pandan parliamentary constituency, wants a stay pending the disposal of his appeal against Justice Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid’s ruling delivered last Friday.
Kamal had said the dissolution of Parliament was non-justiciable and could not be entertained by a court of law. He said the Yang di Pertuan Agong was the ultimate decision maker on whether to dissolve the Dewan Rakyat after a request from the prime minister.
He dismissed Syed Iskandar’s application to stay his ruling, leading him to go to the Court of Appeal.
Today, lawyer Gopal Sri Ram said Kamal fell into error as his client was only challenging the action of the prime minister, who he said requested the dissolution based on ulterior motives.
“We are not challenging the King’s decision to dissolve the house once a request is made,” he said.
Senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan said the stay, if allowed, would result in reinstating the positions of MPs in the Dewan Rakyat.
“In another way, the appellant is asking for the reversal of the dissolution,” he said.
He said any injunction against the EC and the government would restrain them from carrying out their constitutional duty to conduct elections within 60 days.
In his judicial review application,Syed Iskandar sought a declaration that the request by Ismail, made to the King on Oct 9, was null and void and of no force or effect.
He contended that Ismail was wrong to rely on Articles 40(2)(b) and 55(2) of the Federal Constitution to end the term of the Dewan Rakyat.
He wanted a writ of prohibition to stop the EC chairman and his servants or agents from taking steps to conduct GE15.
Syed Iskandar, a lawyer by profession, said Ismail acted in breach of his fiduciary duties as he had failed to consider the welfare and interests of the poorer segments of the voting public.
He said Ismail also failed to consider the impact of potential floods.
Instead, he said, the prime minister only considered the interests of Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is facing criminal charges.
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