KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court today denied Padang Serai member of parliament N. Surendran’s bid to refer the constitutional issues of his sedition case to the Federal Court.
Judicial commissioner Datuk Ab Karim Ab Rahman ruled that the issues have all been answered by the apex court in a similar bid by law lecturer Dr Azmi Sharom.
Karim was referring to the Federal Court ruling on Oct 6 last year, where it affirmed the validity of the Sedition Act 1948, and threw out Azmi’s legal challenge against that law.
Surendran had wanted the High Court to refer to the Federal Court three issues related to his sedition charge.
One issue raised was whether the Sedition Act was invalid as it violated a person's fundamental rights to personal liberty, equality before the law and freedom of speech.
Karim ordered Surendran’s sedition case be remitted to the Sessions Court here, and denied an application by the accused’s counsel M. Puravalen to stay the ruling pending appeal.
Surendran, who is also PKR vice-president, was accused of making seditious remarks while at the Palace of Justice at Presint 3 of Putrajaya, between 2pm and 4pm, on Aug 8, 2014.
He may be jailed up to three years and fined not more than RM5,000, if convicted under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act.
Surendran is also facing another sedition charge related to his press release over Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy case. However, that case was not the subject matter of today’s High Court proceedings.