The Court of Appeal today ruled that the Election Commission (EC) acted unlawfully in barring a voter from casting his ballot during the 2022 Johor state election on the basis of Covid-19 quarantine restrictions.
A three-member panel chaired by Justice Supang Lian granted a declaration in favour of aircraft engineer RK Tamileswaaran, who had challenged the EC’s decision to deny him entry to the polling station despite being a registered voter.
Also on the bench hearing the appeal were Justices Wong Kian Kheong and Ismail Brahim.
No order was made as to costs.
Delivering the court’s decision, Wong said there was no dispute that Tamileswaaran was duly registered to vote in the Skudai state constituency.
The judge said EC’s refusal to allow Tamileswaaran to vote, based solely on his quarantine status, was without basis in law and a violation of his constitutional rights.
“EC must conduct the election subject to provisions of existing federal laws.
“The by-laws on Covid-19 are not part of our existing federal laws, as they were created by the health director-general (for the Covid-19 pandemic),” said Wong.
The court, however, denied Tamileswaaran’s claim for RM10,000 in damages.
“The decision (not to allow Tamileswaaran to vote) was not made in bad faith,” Wong said, adding that Malaysia had not exited the pandemic during the material time.
Lawyer New Sin Yew appeared for Tamileswaaran while senior federal counsel Al-Saifi Hashim represented EC.
According to Tamileswaaran, he was instructed to undergo quarantine at home after being confirmed positive for Covid-19.
On polling day, he entered the sixth day of quarantine. He claimed that a self-test taken at 11.58am that day turned out “negative”. Despite this, he was not allowed to cast his vote.
He sought leave to bring judicial review proceedings in a bid to quash the EC’s denial of his right to vote, naming the commission and the government as respondents.
He also sought a declaration that the EC had violated his constitutional right to vote under Article 119 of the Federal Constitution.
On June 22, 2022, Tamileswaaran obtained leave from the High Court to bring judicial proceedings.
However on Dec 7 that year he failed at the inter-partes stage, giving rise to the present appeal.
