PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has reserved its decision in an appeal involving a legal challenge filed by a registered voter who was barred from voting in the 2022 Johor State Election.
Justice Datuk Supang Lian, who chaired the three-member panel, said the court would deliver its decision on another date, as the appeal involved constitutional issues.
She set April 16 for case management to fix the ruling date.
The panel, which also comprised Justices Datuk Wong Kian Kheong and Datuk Ismail Brahim, heard arguments in the appeal brought by 29-year-old R K Tamileswaaran, who sought to overturn the High Court’s 2022 decision rejecting his judicial review application.
Tamileswaaran had challenged the Election Commission’s (EC) action that prevented him from voting on March 12, 2022, as he was under quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19.
In his application, Tamileswaaran claimed that he was on his sixth day of quarantine and had tested negative on a Covid-19 self-test but was still barred from entering the polling tent as his MySejahtera app displayed a “High” risk status and he did not obtain permission from the District Health Officer to vote.
Tamileswaaran’s counsel, New Sin Yew, submitted that damages should be awarded to his client for being denied his constitutional right to vote, proposing RM10,000 as an appropriate sum.
He also argued that the EC had failed to follow the legal requirement of existing election laws, instead relying on the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), which had no legal effect on the conduct of elections.
In response, Senior Federal Counsel Mohammad Al-Saifi Hashim, representing the EC, asserted that the Federal Constitution did not allow for constitutional monetary compensation in cases of violation of voting rights.
He told the court that the SOP was a public policy to curb the spread of COVID-19 and there was nothing wrong with the EC adopting the SOP for the purpose of conducting elections.
According to him, Tamileswaaran’s MySejahtera app had shown that he was still under quarantine, and he (Tamileswaaran) had failed to adhere to the SOP by leaving quarantine.
“It is in accordance with the SOP dated March 7, 2022, issued by the Director-General of Health prohibiting patients, including the appellant (Tamileswaaran), who was positive for COVID-19, from casting his vote,” he said. Mohammad Al-Saifi was assisted by Senior Federal Counsel Fauziah Daud.
