This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on August 24, 2026 - August 30, 2026

Earlier this month, the Federal Court ruled in favour of number forecast operators (NFOs) that filed a suit against the Kedah government for restricting their operations in the state.

The court ruled unanimously that the Kedah government, led by PAS, was wrong not to issue or renew the NFOs’ business premise licences. This was on the grounds that they were empowered and licensed by the Ministry of Finance, a federal government entity, to run their operations nationwide.

While the ruling is positive for the NFOs, the real test has yet to come. Whether the Federal Court’s ruling carries weight or not will depend on the NFOs getting their business premise licences and resuming their operations in Kedah.

These licences come under the purview of local authorities in the state. Implementation of a court ruling can be difficult at state level as there is always the possibility of delays and other obstacles on the ground.

Hopefully, that will not be the case for the NFOs in Kedah.

The Federal Court ruling is a major win for the NFOs. It settles any doubts on their operations in all the other Malaysian states as well, irrespective of the political party in control of the state government.

If, for some reason, the NFOs are unable to operate in Kedah, it would only go to show that the Federal Court verdict is only a hollow victory for them.

The road ahead will continue to be bumpy for the NFOs, considering the rising popularity of PAS and its leaders such as Kedah Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor..

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