Justice Roz Mawar Rozain fixed Feb 19 to deliver her ruling after hearing submissions from the parties.

Earlier, lawyer Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud, appearing for the state government, told the court that a by-election was conducted for the seat on Aug 17, with Barisan Nasional’s Azmawi Fikri Abdul Ghani elected as the new assemblyman.

He said Azmawi’s election rendered Azizi’s lawsuit academic, and that the former assemblyman had no reasonable cause of action against the state.

Awang Armadajaya also said that Azmawi ought to have been made a party to the proceedings.

“(Azizi) is seeking to challenge the casual vacancy declared for the Nenggiri seat. If allowed by the court, Azmawi will stand to lose the seat.

“Yet Azmawi was not named in this suit, depriving him of his right to defend himself,” said Awang Armadajaya.

In his suit, Azizi contended that an amendment to Clause 10 of Bersatu’s constitution, which stipulates that his membership would cease if he supported a political rival, was unconstitutional and ought to be struck down by the court.

Azizi also wants the court to declare a notice issued by Kelantan state assembly speaker Amar Abdullah advising the Election Commission (EC) of the seat’s vacancy null and void. He said he was not given the right to defend himself before the seat was vacated.

Meanwhile, Bersatu’s lawyer, Chetan Jethwani, told the court that the essence of Azizi’s lawsuit was to indirectly challenge the outcome of the by-election.

“He wants to undo the by-election but without naming the assemblyman in question,” he said.

Chetan also said the court had no power to hear Azizi’s claim against the party as the law bars it from doing so.

Federal counsel M Kogilambigai, representing the EC, said Azizi should have filed an election petition if he wished to dispute the by-election or Azmawi’s victory.

In response, Azizi’s lawyer Rajan Navaratnam said that the issue began with his client’s “sacking” by Bersatu which was followed by a notice the party issued to the Kelantan state assembly seeking that his seat be declared vacant.

Rajan said Azizi was denied his right to be heard prior to the state assembly speaker issuing the declaration.

Azizi, who is also the Gua Musang MP, is one of six Bersatu MPs who pledged support for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim last year.

He was allowed to retain his parliamentary seat after Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul rejected a request by Bersatu to have that seat vacated.