Court of Appeal denies NGOs’ challenge to Bukit Cherakah degazettement

Court of Appeal denies NGOs’ challenge to Bukit Cherakah degazettement

Appeals court says the challenge should have been filed in 2000, within three months of the decision.

The Court of Appeal has denied Peka and the Shah Alam Community Forest Society the opportunity to contest a decision to degazette the Bukit Cherakah forest reserve in Shah Alam.
PUTRAJAYA:
The Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeal of two NGOs to initiate judicial review proceedings in a bid to challenge the degazettement of Bukit Cherakah as a forest reserve.

Delivering the court’s unanimous ruling, Justice Azizah Nawawi said the application had been filed out of time.

She said the Shah Alam Community Forest Society and Khazanah Alam Malaysia (Peka) should have filed the application in 2000, within three months of the decision to degazette the forest reserve.

Also on the three-member panel were Justices Azimah Omar and Wong Kian Kheong.

The court did not make any order for the payment of costs.

The NGOs were appealing after they were denied leave by the Shah Alam High Court in 2022 to initiate a judicial review over the state government’s decision to degazette Bukit Cherakah, covering 406.22ha.

The NGOs claimed that it was illegal for the Selangor government to “backdate” the impugned gazette.

The gazette was published on May 5, 2022, some 22 years after the decision was made in 2000.

The NGOs were represented by Pavitra Loganathan while assistant state legal adviser Khairul Nizam Abu Bakar appeared for the Selangor government.

Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram

Subscribe to our newsletter and get news delivered to your mailbox.