PUTRAJAYA: Barisan Nasional candidate Tan Sri M. Ramasamy (pic) has filed an appeal with the Federal Court over the Election Court’s dismissal of his petition to challenge the result for the Segamat parliamentary seat in the 15th General Election (GE15) in November last year.
The notice of appeal was filed on April 14 this year.
On April 3, the Election Court in Muar, Johor, dismissed Ramasamy’s petition after ruling there was non-compliance with the requirements of the Election Offences Act and the Election Petition Rules.
Ramasamy, who is MIC treasurer, had lost to Pakatan Harapan’s R. Yuneswaran in GE15.
Yuneswaran won with a majority of 5,669 votes in the four-cornered fight against Ramasamy, Perikatan Nasional’s P. Poobalan and Pejuang’s Syed Hairoul Faizey.
Ramasamy’s appeal is fixed for case management before the Federal Court deputy registrar on May 9.
In his petition, Ramasamy sought, among others, a declaration that the election for the Segamat seat was void and that Yuneswaran was not duly elected as the MP for Segamat.
Justice Mohd Radzi Abdul Hamid, in his judgment, stated a petition should not be based on inferences and presumptions but on actual and material facts.
He said he agreed with Yuneswaran’s counsel’s submission that Ramasamy’s petition lacked material facts that were clear and precise.
Mohd Radzi also accepted the preliminary objection by the respondents: Yuneswaran, the returning officer for Segamat, and the Election Commission, to get Ramasamy’s petition dismissed.
The preliminary objection raised by the respondents included that Ramasamy failed to comply with Rule 15(4) of the Election Petition Rules 1954 pertaining to the particulars of his affidavit of service and his failure to comply with the Election Petition Rules regarding the facts pleaded in his petition which were incapable of sustaining the declarations sought. — Bernama
