AGC moves to block ex-Umno mans suit against RoS
Ragunath maintains the lawsuit was filed within the stipulated period. Picture by Choo Choy May
The AGC said Amran Abdul Rahmans suit was not filed within 40 days of the RoSs September 25, 2010 decision to deny his request for the registration documents of 126 branches and 14 divisions in Kelantan Umno he alleges to be unregistered.
His lawyer, Ragunath Kesavan, however, argued that Amrans suit was filed on time as the RoS had made a second similar decision on May 10 this year.
So were well within time, he told The Malaysian Insider.
Amran, who was Tanah Merah Umno secretary until his sacking on March 1 last year, is seeking a judicial review to override the RoSs decision and a court order to compel the Registrar to supply the information requested in a bid to reclaim his lost position.
The case recalls the 1987 fractious court-induced split that made Umno illegal.
The Public Complaints Bureau (PCB), an agency in the Prime Ministers Department, informed him in November last year that the RoS had rejected his application on the grounds that the issue was still under investigation by the Home Ministry.
Businessman Amran, 47, was stripped of his membership for allegedly breaking Article 20.7 of the party constitution by taking Pondok Lama division chief Datuk Ikmal Hisham to court.
Following Umnos 1987 leadership crisis, which saw the party being ruled an illegal society, a new constitution was drawn up following the setting up of Umno Baru that effectively barred members from taking internal disputes to court.
Amran, an Umno member of 14 years, is challenging the RoS to show proof that branches set up by the Barisan Nasional (BN) lynchpin in the Tanah Merah ! division have been lawfully registered, failing which it must declare Umno Kelantan illegal, a move that will consequently cancel his sacking from the party.
There are a total of 131 Umno branches in Kelantan. According to Amran, only five are legitimate as the other 126 including his own Simpang Tiga Seri Mahligai branch were never registered.
He said the RoS had also issued a notice ordering four Umno branches in the Tanah Merah division to fold in 2007, but claimed the partys central leadership, endorsed by its secretary-general Tengku Adnan Mansor, had allowed the four to continue holding meetings.
Datuk Hafarizam Harun held a watching brief for Umno today.
Judge Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim will decide on July 13 whether to allow the case to proceed.
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