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In blow to PKR, Zuraida thwarts RM10 million suit after appeals court rules sum unreasonable

The court says PKR is only entitled to RM60,000 after deducting legal costs to be paid to the former minister.

MalaysiaNow
2 minute read
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Former Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin.
Former Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin.

The Court of Appeal today overturned the High Court's ruling that former minister Zuraida Kamaruddin must pay RM10 million to PKR as she had breached a bond by going against her former party, in what is a major blow to PKR's efforts to punish former leaders who went against Anwar Ibrahim's leadership in 2020.

Instead, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal today ruled that PKR is only entitled to RM100,000 - less RM40,000 in costs - to cover the party's election expenses for the Ampang parliamentary seat, which Zuraida won under PKR's ticket in the 2018 general election.

The amount is calculated based on the fact that campaign expenses for a candidate are capped at RM200,000 per parliamentary constituency.

"Considering that Zuraida was in office for 22 months, the court reduced the amount from RM200,000 to RM100,000 and PKR has to pay RM40,000," Zuraida's lawyer Azhar Azizan Harun told MalaysiaNow, referring to the 22-month-old Pakatan Harapan government in which Zuraida served as housing and local government minister.

Apart from Azhar, Zuraida is also represented by lawyers Nizamuddin Hamid and Firdaus Shaik.

Last year, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered Zuraida to pay RM10 million to PKR following a suit against her, with the judge saying the bond to be a valid and binding contract.

The suit was filed in September 2020, about six months after PH collapsed following Bersatu's departure from the ruling coalition.

A subsequent split in PKR led to the expulsion of about a dozen MPs alligned to its former deputy president Mohamad Azmin Ali, who later became part of a coalition government formed at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.

Azhar said the court had deemed the RM10 million demanded by PKR as "not reasonable" under Section 75 of the Contract Act.

"The reasonable amount is the amount of election expenses, which is RM200,000 for each constituency," he added.

In filing the suit, PKR had claimed that Zuraida had entered into a contract with the party in which she had undertaken to pay RM10 million should she resign, join another political party or become an independent MP.

However, Zuraida said she was forced to sign the bond in order to qualify as a candidate for the 2018 elections.