ALOR SETAR, June 7 — Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor is not giving up the state’s decision to stop issuing and renewing number-betting outlet licences, despite losing the case at the Court of Appeal.

He said the state will pursue the legal battle all the way to the Federal Court, The Star reported today.

“We are not giving up and will bring this case to the highest court. We have already started the process to go to the Federal Court,” he was quoted as saying.

Sanusi said the state had anticipated the outcome, although the full written judgment was only recently released.

On June 2, the Court of Appeal released its written grounds for a December ruling that Kedah could not impose a blanket ban on lottery and betting businesses solely on policy objections to gambling.

The majority decision held that state powers were confined to matters under the Federal Constitution’s Ninth Schedule and the Local Government Act.

The court said licensing decisions must be tied to premises conditions such as safety, sanitation and public nuisance, not general opposition to gambling activities.

It also noted that some operators had been operating at the same premises for decades.

The Federal Court is scheduled to hear Kedah’s application for leave to appeal on August 12.

Kedah’s dispute began after Sanusi announced in November 2021 that the state would stop issuing and renewing gambling outlet licences.

The decision was challenged by gambling and lottery operators, leading to a 2024 High Court ruling that the ban was unlawful, which was later upheld by the Court of Appeal in December 2025.

PUTRAJAYA, June 3 — Lawyer Syed Iskandar Syed Jaafar Al Mahdzar has filed an application at the Federal Court seeking leave to appeal in relation to his judicial review challenge concerning the former Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s refusal to a request by the then prime minister to declare a state of emergency five years ago.

When contacted by Bernama, Syed Iskandar confirmed that the notice of motion was filed last Friday through law firm Messrs R.Kengadharan & Co.

On May 4 this year, the Court of Appeal three-man bench comprising Federal Court judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah and Court of Appeal judges Datuk Supang Lian and Datuk Dr Alwi Abdul Wahab, dismissed Syed Iskandar’s appeal.

Syed Iskandar had filed an originating summons in 2020, seeking a declaration that the Constitution (Amendment) Act 1981 (Act A514), which added Clauses 8 (a) and (b) to Article 150, is unconstitutional, null and void and of no effect on the ground that it violated the basic structure of the Federal Constitution.

He named the Malaysian Government and 10 others as defendants in the suit.

On February 15, 2024, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur dismissed the originating summons. The court ruled that Article 150(8) does not violate the basic structure of the Federal Constitution and cannot be struck down under Article 40(1), which states that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall act on the advice of the Cabinet.

In dismissing Syed Iskandar’s appeal, Justice Sequerah ruled that matters concerning emergency powers under Article 150 of the Federal Constitution are non-justiciable.

“A court would not be equipped to decide on the legality of the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong’s satisfaction of national threats as it would be impossible to adduce all available facts before the courts, and as such it would be inappropriate for a court exercising powers of judicial review to make value judgments of non-judicial nature,” he said in his grounds of decision.

He further said that there was a need to include Clause 8 to exclude the court from reviewing the proclamation of emergency and any related ordinance, as certain sensitive information is only available to the Executive, and it was not wise for such sensitive information to be disclosed to the public and be subjected to judicial review.

Justice Sequerah added that the courts were also ill-equipped to deal with matters involving national security. — Bernama

PUTRAJAYA, June 16 — The Federal Court today ruled in favour of seven Orang Asli villagers by ordering that each receive RM20,000 in general damages following the destruction of their ancestral graves.

A three-member bench comprising Justices Datuk Nordin Hassan, Datuk Seri Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera and Datuk Lee Swee Seng unanimously allowed the villagers’ appeal and reinstated the earlier decision of the Kuantan High Court.

The ruling overturned the Court of Appeal’s October 2024 decision, which had favoured Agrobest (M) Sdn Bhd, a company involved in the prawn farming industry, and two of its employees.

Agrobest is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ABSF International Group (M) Sdn Bhd and had entered into a 30-year lease agreement with the Pahang State Secretariat Corporation to develop sea prawn pond farming on the land concerned.

Delivering the unanimous judgment, Justice Lee said the High Court was “perfectly positioned” to assess the evidence and determine that the villagers had successfully established their connection to the grave sites and tombstones.

He said the destruction and desecration of the ancestral graves constituted an infringement of the villagers’ native proprietary rights, making them entitled to compensation as correctly determined by the High Court.

Justice Lee added that the High Court had properly evaluated oral testimony and rightly concluded that the villagers had proven their family connection to the burial sites that were desecrated.

He further said that Orang Asli communities retain the right to use and enjoy their ancestral lands unless those rights have been lawfully extinguished through compensation under the Land Acquisition Act 1960.

According to the court, the villagers had previously been directed by the Orang Asli Development Department (JKOA) to vacate and relocate from the area to make way for a large-scale prawn farming development without receiving compensation.

Despite relocating, the villagers continued returning annually to perform customary rituals at their ancestors’ graves.

The seven villagers, comprising Rosli Jedut, Atan Baro, Melah Hamid, Awang Bako, Esah Wir, Kasim Awang, and Majib Kasim, filed the lawsuit in 2019, alleging trespass and the destruction of graves at a burial site in Kampung Orang Asli Batu 20, Mukim Bebar, in Pahang’s Pekan district.

On July 11, 2023, the Kuantan High Court ruled that the villagers had successfully proven their claim against Agrobest and awarded each of them RM20,000 in general damages for the loss suffered as a result of the damage caused to the burial site.

The High Court also found that a backhoe contractor engaged by the company during excavation works had acted in a manner that failed to respect Orang Asli customs and traditions.

However, on October 22, 2024, the Court of Appeal overturned the ruling, holding that the villagers lacked legal standing to bring the action after finding insufficient proof that they were descendants of those buried at the site.

In June last year, the Federal Court granted leave for the villagers to appeal the appellate court’s decision. The appeal was heard over two days on January 26 and June 8 this year.

At today’s proceedings, the villagers were represented by lawyers Steven Thiruneelakandan, Yogeswaran Subramaniam, Hon Kai Ping and Ananthan Nithya Moorthi, while Agrobest and its employees were represented by counsel Henry Ngok Heng Hui, Vernise Ng Si Hui and Wong Yung Hang. — Bernama