KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has fixed Oct 13 to hear Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang's bid to strike out a legal bid to prevent the tabling of a Private Member's Bill on Hudud in Parliament.
Counsel Farez Jinnah said High Court judge Datuk Asmabi Mohamad fixed the date today following her dismissal of preliminary objection by Hadi and four others against the suit.
Farez acted for four people - Mansoor Saat, Azira Aziz, Hasbeemaputra Abu Bakar and Hazwany Jamaluddin - who initiated the suit to halt Hadi's Bill-tabling attempt.
Previously, Hadi and four other defendants - Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, his deputies Datuk Ismail Mohamed Said, Datuk Ronald Kiandee and Datuk Roosme Hamzah - had filed preliminary objection to the suit on technical grounds.
They had argued that the suit should have been initiated via judicial review, not originating summons.
Today, Asmabi fixed Oct 13 to hear both Hadi's striking-out bid and the four plaintiffs' application for temporary injunction to prevent Hadi from tabling the Bill pending disposal of the main legal action.
In June, Mansoor and the three plaintiffs filed the constitutional challenge against Hadi's attempt to file a bill to amend the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965.
It is understood that the amendment would expand the powers of the Kelantan Syariah courts to pass judgments in cases linked to the state's Hudud law, which was passed by the state legislature on March 19.
On that date, the Kelantan legislature passed the Syariah Criminal Code II 1993 (Amendment 2015) to enable the implementation of Pas' hudud law in the state.
Counsel Datuk Sulaiman Abdullah and Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan acted for Hadi in today's chamber matter.
Senior federal counsel Maisarah Juhari appeared for Amin, Ismail, Ronald, and Roosme.