Baru Bian seeks to annul RM10mil bond suit, says court lacks jurisdiction

However, PKR secretary-general Fuziah Salleh says the High Court of Malaya is the proper forum as the party’s affairs are conducted in Petaling Jaya.

Baru said the High Court of Malaya has no jurisdiction to hear his case as the cause of action arose in Sarawak.

The 68-year-old lawyer said he signed the bond in Kuching on April 25, 2018, three days before filing his nomination papers to contest the Selangau seat.

He said his involvement with PKR was confined to Sarawak, where the party had its state headquarters in Kuching.

The former works minister and Sarawak PKR chief said in an affidavit sighted by FMT that his lawyers advised him that the cause of action did not arise in Peninsular Malaysia, but in Sarawak.

Under the Federal Constitution, there are two High Courts: one for Sabah and Sarawak, and another for Malaya.

Baru said he was advised that the High Court of Malaya has no jurisdiction over the suit filed against him.

“I ordinarily reside in Sarawak, outside the territorial jurisdiction of the High Court of Malaya,” he said in the affidavit supporting his application.

However, in response, Fuziah said the cause of action originated in Malaya, as the party’s headquarters are located in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

She said PKR’s affairs are administered from its headquarters, and that Baru’s party membership was also processed there.

Fuziah also said the bond was discussed at the headquarters on April 17, 2018 during a meeting which Baru attended.

In her affidavit, she said Baru’s candidacy for the Selangau seat was not solely a Sarawak matter, but was determined by the party’s central leadership.

She also noted that the ministry Baru later headed operated in Peninsular Malaysia, and that he attended Dewan Rakyat sittings in Kuala Lumpur.

Fuziah maintained that the High Court of Malaya has jurisdiction over the contractual dispute arising from the bond, and that Baru’s application is without merit.

Case management before Justice Roslan Mat Nor has been fixed for May 25.

Two months ago, PKR, through Fuziah, filed suits against Baru as well as Kamarudin Jaffar (Bandar Tun Razak), Mansor Othman (Nibong Tebal), Rashid Hasnon (Batu Pahat), Saifuddin Abdullah (Indera Mahkota), and Edmund Santhara Kumar (Segamat), over their alleged roles in the collapse of the 22-month Pakatan Harapan (PH) federal government in 2020 following the Sheraton Move.

The party also filed a similar suit against 10 assemblymen who left in 2020.

In separate statements of claim, Fuziah said PKR is seeking RM10 million from each defendant for breaching the bond signed before the 2018 general election.

Under the bond’s terms, the defendants were required to pay the sum within seven days if they won their seats on a PKR ticket but later resigned from the party, joined another political party, or became independent representatives.

In GE14, PKR won several parliamentary and state seats and went on to form the federal government as well as several state administrations.

Fuziah said that on or about Feb 24, 2020, it became publicly known that each of the defendants had ceased to be PKR members after being elected under its banner.

She said the defendants had aligned themselves with or supported a political coalition other than PH.

Their memberships were terminated on March 11, 2020, and the party demanded compliance with the bond but received no response.

Fuziah said PKR had invested substantial resources in building its brand, developing human capital, identifying and endorsing candidates, running national and state campaigns, and securing electoral success.

She added that the defendants’ resignations or realignment after the election altered the governing majority at both federal and state levels, and affected the party’s ability to carry out its electoral mandate.