KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 24): The High Court has dismissed Muar Member of Parliament Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman's leave (permission) application to commence legal action against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the government over RM730,300 in allocations for his constituency.

In his decision on Tuesday, presiding judge Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh said that the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) co-founder's application was not filed within the stipulated three-month period, as required by the law. He also noted that there were no applications seeking an extension of time.

Wan Ahmad, who was recently elevated to the Court of Appeal, also said that matters of allocation were an executive matter which fell outside the court's purview.

Furthermore, he added that there were no provisions within the constitution which bound government agencies to allocate such funds to any MPs, regardless of their support for the government.

"This application for leave is therefore refused. In view of the public interest in the case, I'm not making any order as to cost," he said.

All applicants are represented by Lim Wei Jiet, while senior federal counsel Nurhafizza Azizan appeared for the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC).

Speaking to the press following the decision, Syed Saddiq expressed his disappointment and said he would be appealing the decision.

He added that he would pursue "all avenues available to fight for justice and the welfare of his constituency".  

Syed Saddiq said that currently he was supporting his constituency via private fund-raisers and in-kind donations from good Samaritans.

Syed Saddiq filed leave for a judicial review in April this year, over outstanding allocation to his constituency counted from September last year. Three local leaders from Muar who were impacted from the pause in funds are also applicants in the suit.

According to court documents, the politician said that RM500,000 out of a total RM1.7 million previously allocated by the government had yet to be paid to his constituency. The monies were to fund charitable programmes, welfare of the constituents, and natural disaster aid. The constituency had received a total of RM1.5 million from various allocations up until Sept 10, 2023, he noted.

He added that the government had also cancelled a separate allocation of RM230,300 which he had applied for and had been approved under the MyKhas allocation system. These funds were among others meant for renovations and repair works of schools and mosques.

Syed Saddiq also claims that his access as an MP to the MyKhas system to apply for allocations for Muar was revoked.

Among others, he was seeking a court order for the funds to be channelled to the constituency and for his access to the MyKhas system to be reinstated.  

Syed Saddiq said that the payments had stopped on Sept 10 last year because his party withdrew its support for the unity government, in order to become a 'third force' in the opposition. This was in response to the withdrawal of all 47 charges faced by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in his criminal trial.

Syed Saddiq also cited MPs who were formerly with the opposition bloc but had thrown their support behind Anwar had continued to receive their allocations.

Those he named were Datuk Indera Suhaili Abdul Rahman (Labuan), Zahari Kechik (Jeli), Mohd Azizi Abu Naim (Gua Musang), Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar) and Datuk Dr Zulkafperi Hanapi (Tanjong Karang).

The AGC objected to the leave application, among others, on the grounds that such allocation were matters of policy, which is not amenable to a judicial review.