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THE Court of Appeal today allowed the federal government's application for an interim stay of a High Court ruling on Sabah’s Special Grant entitlement.
A three-member bench chaired by Datuk Mohamed Zaini Mazlan granted the stay pending disposal of the appeal.
The Kota Kinabalu High Court ruled last October that the Federal Government had acted unlawfully by failing to fulfil Sabah’s constitutional right to 40% of federal revenue from 1974 to 2021.
That court ordered both governments to review the entitlement for the 47 years, giving them 90 days to complete the review and a further 180 days to reach a final agreement.
The ruling followed a judicial review filed by the Sabah Law Society (SLS), which contended that both the federal and Sabah governments had breached their constitutional duties by failing to lawfully review and implement the payments.
The case centres on the interpretation of Articles 112C and 112D of the Federal Constitution concerning special grants and periodic reviews for Sabah and Sarawak.
Zaini warned that rejecting the stay could carry wider fiscal risks and that the imposed timelines may not give the parties sufficient opportunity to determine the correct quantum payable.
Senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly appeared for the government, while the SLS was represented by David Fung and Jeyan Marimuttu, and Sabah by state Attorney General Datuk Brenndon Keith Soh. - April 6, 2026