KUALA LUMPUR (May 19): The High Court has granted leave (permission) to the still missing Datin Seri Pamela Ling Yueh to challenge an arrest warrant and travel restriction against her.

High Court judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh Serjit Singh granted leave on Monday following preliminary submissions from Pamela's lawyer Datuk Malik Imtiaz Sarwar and senior federal counsel Mohd Faisal Md Noor.

In gist, Ling is looking to quash an arrest warrant issued by the Johor Bahru Magistrates Court on Dec 2 last year. She is also seeking a court declaration that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) does not have powers to — directly or indirectly — prohibit someone from leaving Malaysia, except for specific sections in the MACC Act 2009 and Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA).

The 41-year-old mother of three filed the leave application on April 7, two days before her disappearance.

She went missing en route to the graft-busters‘ headquarters in Putrajaya on April 9. She was summoned in relation to an investigation under the MACC Act and AMLA. Her case has grabbed headlines with many voicing concerns over public safety and the MACC's conduct.

The arrest warrant was sought by the MACC after attending a meeting with Ling on Oct 29 last year. The meeting took place in the offices of Singapore's Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) as Ling resides in the city state.

According to court documents, Ling said she would cooperate with the MACC, but requested that any meeting take place in Singapore or remotely, as she had safety concerns due to private disputes against her estranged husband.

She then did not comply with an order to go to the MACC's office in Johor Bahru on Oct 30 last year, following which the warrant of arrest was issued.

Singapore authorities then handed Ling over to the MACC at the immigration checkpoint. She was assisting with investigations here, and travel restrictions were also imposed on her before her disappearance.

Ling is also seeking an order for compensation over expenses spent up to the day of filing of the court challenge: Two sums of S$20,401.14 (RM67,000) and RM70,000, or any part of these amounts, which the court also granted.

Ling asked for court orders for the MACC to return her phone and for the Immigration director general to allow her to leave the country. The court did not grant separate orders for these as the judge was of the view that these would consequentially follow the main orders.

With Monday's decision, parties will now submit on the substantive issues at a later date. Case management for the matter has been set for June 3.

Court proceedings were held in chambers. However, it is understood that Mohd Faisal informed the court that the Attorney General's Chambers had no issues with leave being granted except for the court order sought to quash the arrest warrant.

In gist, he had argued that decisions made by the judiciary — in this case the Magistrate’s Court — cannot be challenged via a judicial review.  

A judicial review is typically an application to challenge decisions made by executive and legislative bodies.

However, judge Amarjeet was of the view that there are issues to be ventilated with regard to this, as he had come across challenges to prohibition orders by government agencies but not challenges against arrest warrants issued by the court. 

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