KOTA KINABALU, Oct 17 — The High Court will hear Sabah Law Society’s (SLS) legal suit against Putrajaya for the 40 per cent special grant for the state after the Federal Court today dismissed the federal attorney-general’s appeal.
The three-man panel — consisting of Tan Sri Nallini Pathmanathan, Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof and Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang — dismissed the federal government’s leave application to appeal after hearing both sides of the argument.
In this case between SLS against the federal government, the latter argued whether the Federal Court has jurisdiction over this dispute, which they claimed should be between the federal government and the Sabah government as provided under the Federal Constitution.
They also argued whether SLS has the right to appear in court over the matter, and that the issue — a 40 per cent return of revenue from the federal to the state government — is justiciable.
Counsel David Fung who appeared for SLS said that the SLS had the right to take on the federal government and said both the federal and state government breached the Federal Constitution by failing to review the grant for 48 years.
The decision today will allow the High Court to hear and decide on the merits of the judicial review application.
“This is where every party’s stand will come and be shown to the world. So this is where it will get interesting,” said former SLS president Datuk Roger Chin.
The SLS applied for a judicial review in 2022 to compel the federal government to pay Sabah its constitutional right to 40 per cent of revenue from the state. The Kota Kinabalu High Court granted the application.
The federal government via the Attorney-General’s Chambers appealed the decision and obtained a stay on proceedings in the High Court.
On June 18, the Court of Appeal upheld the lower court’s decision on the grounds that the SLS had established the threshold for locus standi in the case.
