Ambiga fails to challenge Sarawak ban

Bersih 2.O chairman Datuk S. Ambiga has failed in her bid to get a court order to challenge Sarawak's refusal to allow her entry into the state during its recent elections.

High Court (Appellate and Special Powers) judge Justice Rohana Yusuf dismissed Ambiga's application for leave for a judicial review but did not make any order as to costs.

She made the ruling after meeting Ambiga's lawyers Tommy Thomas and James Khong and senior Federal counsel Datin Azizah Nawawi in chambers.

In her lawsuit, Ambiga applied to quash the notice of refusal of entry dated April 15 issued by the Sarawak Immigration director who refused her entry into Sarawak.

Azizah said the judge held that Immigration director-general and Sarawak Chief Minister, named as respondents, were not proper parties in the action.

“The judge held that the Immigration director-general, who was named as the first respondent in the application, had nothing to do with the decision made by the Sarawak Immigration director who acted on the direction of the state authority.

“In this case, the state authority was the state secretary of Sarawak,” said Azizah who acted for the Immigration director-general.

She said the judge also ruled that the suit should have been filed in Sarawak.

“The judge accepted our objection that the High Court of Malaya has no jurisdiction to hear the matter and it also has no jurisdiction to transfer this case to the High Court there (Sarawak),” she said.

Ambiga said she would consider appealing against the court ruling.

“The decision is disappointing given that this is merely a leave application and the threshold for leave is so low,” she said.

Ambiga also questioned how could she file her suit in Sarawak when she was barred from entering the state and her counsel of choice would not be able to appear there.

She sought for an order from the High Court to compel the respondents to allow her to enter Sarawak.