Upholds Court order to ban Hindraf rally

2008/09/10

Upholds Court order to ban Hindraf rally


KUALA LUMPUR: The restriction order issued by the magistrate's court to ban the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) rally held on Nov 25 last year was valid, the High Court ruled yesterday. It also dismissed the appeal filed by five Hindraf leaders to declare the order null and void. Judge Datuk Mohamed Zabidin Mohd Diah agreed with deputy public prosecutor Raja Rozela Raja Toran that there were no "live issues" before the court.
On Aug 5, Raja Rozela had raised a preliminary objection at the appeal hearing, saying that since the rally had been held, it was a waste of time to dwell on the issue.The five -- lawyers M. Manoharan, V. Ganapathi Rao, P. Uthayakumar, and R. Kengdharan, along with chairman P. Waytha Moorthy -- had appealed against the restriction order earlier this year through their counsel Gobind Singh Deo.They asked the High Court to declare the order, which barred them from holding the rally, null and void. The five claimed that the magistrate had erred because the order was made ex-parte and was defective under the law because it did not specify the restriction address and conditions.

In her objection, Raja Rozela had said the restriction order no longer existed.The ex-parte order, issued on Nov 22, was only valid for seven days.She asked what purpose it would serve to deliberate on an issue that was no longer valid.
In reply, Gobind contended that Raja Rozela's submission that the magistrate's order was academic could not hold ground.

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