KUALA LUMPUR (June 23): The High Court has allowed PKR’s RM10 million claim against its former vice president (VP) Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin for breaching a party bond she signed in 2018.

PKR’s lawyer Navpreet Singh said that High Court judge Datuk Akhtar Tahir found that the RM10 million bond was a valid and binding contract.

“The court was of the view that the RM10 million was not disproportionate but a reasonable sum to act as a deterrence to prevent party members from acting against the party’s interests; and that any less sum would not be a deterrence,” he said when contacted after the decision on Friday (June 23).

Navpreet also confirmed that the court found that Zuraida’s defence where she had signed the bond under duress is baseless, as evidence showed that she had voluntarily signed the contract with full knowledge of its contents.

Further, Navpreet added: “While acknowledging a person’s right to freedom of association, the judge noted that not all of the terms of the bond runs afoul of Article 10 of the Federal Constitution (Freedom of Association). The judge therefore found that the bond is a valid and enforceable agreement”.

He added that the court also ordered Zuraida to pay RM50,000 in cost to her former party.

When contacted, Zuraida’s counsel Nizamuddin Hamid told the media that they will be appealing Friday’s decision.

He also added that they will apply for a stay of the High Court’s decision, pending the disposal of the appeal.

PKR secretary general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, on behalf of the party, filed a RM10 million lawsuit against Zuraida in September 2020 over her departure from the party after winning the seat on PKR’s ticket in the 2018 general elections.

In the statement of claim, Saifuddin said Zuraida executed a bond where she had bound herself to pay the party a sum of RM10 million based on established terms and conditions of the agreement.

The terms and conditions of the bond include Zuraida agreeing to pay the party RM10 million no later than seven days upon her resignation from PKR, joining any other political party or being an independent elected representative after she won the election on a PKR ticket.

During a two-day trial earlier in March, Saifuddin testified that Zuraida voluntarily signed the party bond, which all candidates who contested under PKR’s banner in the 14th GE undertook.

He added that Zuraida did not object to the contractual bond at any time and if she thought the amount was excessive, she should not have accepted the candidacy under the party banner.

Zuraida in turn testified that she signed the bond not on her own volition but rather because there was no alternative. She said that she signed the bond under duress.

She said that she was given the documents a day before nomination without any explanation on the terms and conditions, nor was she given copies of the documents at any time. She also added that the terms of the bond were biased and prioritised the party.

Zuraida, who was with PKR for some 21 years, left the party in February 2020 along with 10 other PKR MPs (Members of Parliament) during the “Sheraton Move”, which saw the fall of the then Pakatan Harapan government.

She then left Bersatu to join Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) in May last year.

During the 15th general election last November, she contested under the PBM ticket. However, she failed to retain the Ampang parliamentary seat which she had held for three terms, and lost her deposit in the process. PKR’s Rodziah Ismail won the seat with a 29,681-majority.

Only selected media were allowed to cover the decision on Friday. The Edge was not one of them.