Ex-Selangau MP Baru Bian fails to throw out PKR’s RM10m lawsuit over party exit

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 — Ba’kelalan state assemblyman Baru Bian today failed in his bid to strike out a lawsuit filed by PKR seeking RM10 million in damages for allegedly breaching the terms of a bond after leaving the party following his victory in the 14th General Election (GE14) in 2018.

High Court judge Roslan Mat Nor dismissed the application by Baru, 68, to strike out the suit and challenge the jurisdiction of the High Court of Malaya to hear and decide PKR’s claim against him.

The court ordered the former Selangau Member of Parliament to pay RM4,000 in costs to PKR.

In his application, Baru said he signed the bond in Kuching on April 25, 2018, and that his involvement with PKR was confined to Sarawak.

“The plaintiff’s (PKR) action against me, even if proven, did not arise in Peninsular Malaysia. The claim arose in Sarawak,” he said in the application.

Baru is among 16 former Members of Parliament and state assemblymen sued by PKR secretary-general Datuk Dr Fuziah Salleh on behalf of the party for allegedly breaching the terms of a RM10 million bond they signed with the party.

Also named as defendants are Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar, Datuk Mansor Othman, Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon, Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah and Datuk Seri R. Santhara Kumar.

Abdul Yunus Jamhari, Datuk Azman Nasrudin, Dr Afif Bahardin, Chong Fat Full, Daroyah Alwi, Haniza Mohamed Talha, Muhammad Hilman Idham, Muhammad Jailani Khamis, Robert Ling Kui Ee and Zulkifli Ibrahim were also named as defendants.

In separate suits filed on February 19 and 27, PKR claimed that under the operative clause of the bond, each defendant agreed to pay the party RM10 million within seven days after the occurrence of events such as resigning from the party, joining another political party or becoming an independent elected representative.

The plaintiff claimed that it had appointed each defendant as a candidate to contest in GE14 and that they subsequently won several parliamentary and state seats, leading to the formation of the federal government and several state governments.

“However, on February 24, 2020, each defendant ceased to be a party member after being elected under the party’s banner. They also expressed support for political coalitions other than PKR,” PKR said in its statement of claim.

PKR said that on March 11, 2020, the party decided to terminate the membership of each defendant with immediate effect, and a certificate dated March 16, 2020 was issued to confirm that their memberships had been terminated and to demand that each defendant pay the RM10 million bond, but they failed to do so. — Bernama

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吉隆坡，10月28日讯——巴克拉兰州议员巴鲁·比安今日未能成功驳回人民公正党提起的诉讼。该诉讼指控巴鲁·比安在2018年第14届全国大选（GE14）获胜后退出该党，并违反了保释协议条款，索赔1000万令吉。

高等法院法官罗斯兰·马特·诺尔驳回了68岁的巴鲁提出的撤销诉讼并质疑马来亚高等法院审理和裁决人民公正党对其提出的索赔的管辖权的申请。

法院判令这位前实兰高国会议员向人民公正党支付 4000 令吉的诉讼费。

巴鲁在申请书中表示，他于 2018 年 4 月 25 日在古晋签署了保释书，并且他与人民公正党的联系仅限于砂拉越。

他在申请书中表示：“即使原告（人民公正党）对我提起的诉讼属实，该诉讼也不是在马来西亚半岛发生的。该诉讼是在砂拉越发生的。”

巴鲁是人民公正党秘书长拿督芙兹亚·萨利赫代表该党起诉的 16 名前国会议员和州议员之一，他们被指控违反了与该党签署的 1000 万令吉保证金的条款。

被列为被告的还有拿督卡马鲁丁贾法尔、拿督曼苏尔奥斯曼、拿督莫哈末拉希德哈斯农、拿督斯里赛夫丁阿卜杜拉和拿督斯里桑塔拉库玛。

Abdul Yunus Jamhari、Datuk Azman Nasrudin、Dr Afif Bahardin、Chong Fat Full、Daroyah Alwi、Haniza Mohamed Talha、Muhammad Hilman Idham、Muhammad Jailani Khamis、Robert Ling Kui Ee 和 Zulkifli Ibrahim 也被列为被告。

在 2 月 19 日和 27 日分别提起的诉讼中，人民公正党声称，根据保函的有效条款，每位被告同意在发生诸如退出该党、加入其他政党或成为独立民选代表等事件后的七天内向该党支付 1000 万令吉。

原告声称，它已指定每位被告作为候选人参加第 14 届全国大选，并且他们随后赢得了几个议会席位和州席位，从而组建了联邦政府和几个州政府。

“然而，2020年2月24日，每位被告在以该党名义当选后，都不再是该党党员。他们也表示支持人民公正党以外的其他政治联盟，”人民公正党在其诉状中表示。

人民公正党表示，该党于2020年3月11日决定立即终止每位被告的党籍，并于2020年3月16日签发证明，确认终止其党籍，并要求每位被告缴纳1000万令吉的保证金，但他们均未缴纳。——马新社

阿邦佐哈里表示，砂拉越政党联盟（GPS）将参加砂拉越州选举的全部82个议席。

巴生发生一起摩托车与四驱车相撞事故，摩托车被撞后落入拖车轨道，摩托车骑手不幸身亡。

法德利纳承诺，所有获批的学校项目都将完成。