PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court will hear on June 24 an application by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) to seek leave to appeal against a Court of Appeal’s decision which reduced the bond payment to be made by the party’s former vice-president, Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin, in a breach of party bond case.
PKR’s lawyer, Navpreet Singh, when contacted, told Bernama that the hearing will proceed via online proceedings.
“A final case management was held before the Federal Court deputy registrar Husna Dzulkifly today, he said, adding that all parties have updated the court pertaining to compliance with pre-hearing directives relating to their submissions.
The case revolves around a civil suit filed by former PKR secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, on behalf of the party, claiming that Zuraida, who was then the Ampang Member of Parliament, had breached the bond she had signed.
The terms of the bond, among others, required Zuraida to pay PKR RM10 million within seven days of winning an election on the PKR ticket, should she resign from the party, join another political party, or become an independent representative.
In June 2023, the High Court ruled in favour of the party and ordered Zuraida to pay the RM10 million, with the court finding the bond to be valid and enforceable.
However, in December last year, the Court of Appeal agreed with the High Court that there was a breach of bond but reduced the bond amount to RM100,000, citing that the RM10 million is not a reasonable amount of compensation. This prompted PKR to file a leave to appeal.
In her defence, Zuraida contended that she was forced to sign the bond with the party to be able to stand for election as a candidate in the 14th General Election (GE14) in 2018.
The Federal Court will now decide whether PKR can proceed with its appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision. In civil cases, litigants must obtain leave before they can proceed with their appeals in the Federal Court.
