The Federal Court has dismissed Zuraida Kamaruddin’s application to review its earlier decision, allowing PKR’s appeal over a reduced bond payment to proceed.
PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court has dismissed former PKR vice-president Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin’s application to review its earlier decision granting the party leave to appeal in a party bond breach case.
A three-member bench chaired by Judge Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang delivered the unanimous decision, stating that a review is only granted under special and exceptional circumstances to prevent injustice.
Justice Rhodzariah explained that the earlier bench’s amendment to the draft question was merely to assist the court in determining the issue before hearing the merits of the appeal.
“To our mind, the said amendment of the question is meant to seek a resolution of the appeal proper for future cases based on the factual matrix of this case,” she said.
She added that refining the original question did not materially alter it or amount to an excess of jurisdiction, leading the court to dismiss the application with costs of RM50,000.
The bench, which also included Justices Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali and Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, fixed a case management for tomorrow to set a hearing date for PKR’s appeal.
The apex court had initially granted PKR leave to appeal on June 24 last year against an appellate court ruling that reduced a bond payment.
On December 11, 2024, the Court of Appeal upheld a High Court ruling that Zuraida had breached the bond but reduced the quantum payable from RM10 million to RM100,000.
The High Court had originally ruled in PKR’s favour on June 23, 2023, ordering Zuraida to pay RM10 million after finding the bond was a valid and binding contract.
PKR initiated the lawsuit in 2020, claiming Zuraida violated the terms of a bond she signed before contesting the 2018 general election on the party’s ticket.
The bond stipulated that Zuraida would have to pay PKR RM10 million if she resigned from the party, joined another, or became an independent representative after being elected on its ticket.
In her defence, Zuraida contended she was forced to sign the bond to be able to stand for election as a PKR candidate.
PKR was represented in today’s proceedings by lawyers Ranjit Singh, William Leong, Navpreet Singh, Gregory Leong Tuck Yuen and Liew Hong Wei.
Zuraida was represented by counsels Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun, Nurul Najwa Zainuddin and Syed Afiq Syed Albakri.