PUTRAJAYA (April 6): The Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) on Monday clarified that the federal government’s stay of the High Court ruling does not affect Sabah’s 40% entitlement under Article 112C of the Federal Constitution or its formula.
In a statement, the AGC said the stay ensures the appeal can be heard without becoming academic or ineffective.
“The Attorney General’s Chambers also emphasises that the federal government’s appeal is not against the 40% formula.”
“The appeal is over a portion of the Kota Kinabalu High Court decision on several issues of interpretation on the constitution and also a finding that the federal government and the Sabah government had abused its power and violated its constitutional duty since 1974,” the statement said.
Earlier, a three-member Court of Appeal bench led by Datuk Mohamed Zaini Mazlan allowed the federal government’s stay of execution of the Kota Kinabalu High Court decision on Oct 17, last year for the federal government to calculate and reach an agreement with the Sabah government within the April 15 deadline, pending the appeal hearing.
The High Court had ordered a mandatory review of Sabah’s 40% revenue entitlement for 1974–2021, dubbed “The Lost Years,” within 180 days from the judgement, after the Sabah Law Society filed a judicial review claiming the federal government failed to conduct periodic reviews.
Judge Datuk Celestina Stuel Galid ruled that the federal government’s method of calculating the special grant was unlawful and issued a mandamus to compel a review to honour Sabah’s constitutional 40% share of net federal revenue above the 1963 baseline.
Zaini and the appellate bench, in allowing the stay, ruled there are special circumstances for the court to grant the stay and that the court has to be objective, to prevent its own appellate jurisdiction from becoming academic due to a timeline set by the High Court.
"This could have serious financial consequences, especially given the current challenging global economic climate," the judge.