KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 7): Three former Negeri Sembilan Undangs and another, whose position remains intact, have filed a new judicial review application last month at the court, here, with regards to the Negeri Sembilan royal institution imbroglio.
The quartet — Datuk Mubarak Thahak (whose status as the Undang for Sungai Ujong is under dispute), Datuk Maarof Mat Rashid (the removed Undang for Jelebu), Datuk Abd Rahim Yasin (the removed Undang for Rembau) and Datuk Muhammed Abdullah (the present Undang for Johol) — have named the Negeri Sembilan menteri besar (MB) and the state government as respondents.
They filed the judicial review application on July 17 through Messrs Azam Aziz & Co, and are seeking a mandamus order to compel the Negeri Sembilan MB to sign their proclamation document, which seeks to remove the present Yang di-Pertuan Besar Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawer as the state’s ruler, and a further proclamation that Tunku Nadzaruddin Tuanku Jaafar is the 12th Yang di-Pertuan Besar.
They are seeking a court order for the MB to sign the document within seven days of the court order.
They are also seeking a declaration that the proclamation document that the four of them signed on April 19, this year, is a valid document under the Negeri Sembilan constitution.
Those documents were sighted by The Edge following a file search, and a scheduled hearing for their leave application is to be heard on Monday, Aug 10, before High Court judge Norliza Othman.
Muhammed, the Undang for Johol, had affirmed an affidavit in support of the application, where he stated that on March 5 they had attended a Dewan Keadilan dan Undang (DKU) meeting, chaired by Tuanku Muhriz, that had also been attended by Tunku Besar Tampin Tunku Syed Razman Tunku Syed Idrus Al Qadri and Datuk Seri Badarudin Abdul Khalid (Datuk Shahbandar Sungai Ujong).
Muhammad claimed that the situation at the March 5 meeting became heated after Mubarak commented about the violation of several adat (customs and traditions) by Tuanku Muhriz, and that the meeting had also been attended by the defendants, with the Negeri Sembilan legal adviser and the mufti also being there.
Muhammed claimed that to alleviate the tension, they left the meeting and gathered at Balai Undang Sungei Ujong for a further meeting.
In that meeting, they listed the purported offences and violations of adat by the state administration and Tuanku Muhriz, and felt that he was no longer qualified to hold the post of the 11th Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan.
He claimed that the second meeting (at Balai Undang Sungei Ujong) had also been attended by representatives of the Negeri Sembilan government, including the state legal adviser.
As a result of no action being taken by the Negeri Sembilan government over their decision, Muhammed said they had carried out their constitutional duty as state chieftains to depose Tuanku Muhriz and thus were seeking for the MB to validate their order.
The DKU and its secretary Raja Norazli Raja, who are not defendants in the matter, have filed an application through Messrs Halim & Ismail on Thursday (Aug 6) to intervene in the matter at Monday’s hearing.
Messrs Azam Aziz has also filed the legal documents at the Attorney General’s Chambers.
Negeri Sembilan recently had its state elections on Aug 1, and newly-appointed MB Datuk Ismail Lasim and 10 state executive committee members took their oath on Friday before Tuanku Muhriz. Ismail took his oath as MB on Sunday (Aug 2).
Besides this, a separate case management is being held at the Seremban High Court Friday afternoon before judge Roz Mawar Rozain, where parties are expected to brief the judge over the stay of committal (contempt) proceedings against the four along with Syed Razman and Badaruddin.