THE Kuala Lumpur High Court today granted a stay halting the Election Commission from gazetting the names of 949 army members and their spouses on the electoral roll for the third quarter of last year.

Judge Azizah Nawawi also granted leave to allow voters’ objection to the inclusion of the names to be heard in court.

Case management has been set for January 16.

The attorney-general had filed a preliminary objection against the judicial review brought by 48 applicants from Segamat, but Azizah quashed it.

Mengkibol assemblyman Tan Hong Pin said this was a minor victory for the people, and expressed hope that the upcoming court proceeding would bring more victory.

Also present was Tan Chen Choon, DAP’s Jementah rep.

The EC last week raised a preliminary objection against a bid by the 48 voters to remove 949 army personnel and their spouses as new voters in the parliamentary constituency.

However, lawyer Gobind Singh, representing the 48 voters, argued that there were exceptional circumstances in the case that warranted the voters bringing their complaints to court.

He said the group had valid complaints, and they had not been granted their right to be heard.

Last month, the Segamat voters, led by Abdul Wahab Hassan, had sought to remove the names of the 949 army men and their spouses as new voters in a yet-to-be completed army camp.

The camp is due to be completed in April.

They sought a court order that the exercise to include the army voters was unconstitutional, as the army personnel and their families did not reside in the constituency.

In an affidavit in support of their application, the voters claimed that the entry of names on the Segamat electoral roll was illegal as it ran afoul of Article 119 of the Federal Constitution.

They said many irregularities were discovered during a public inquiry, when the EC conducted an open hearing between December 4 and 10 last year.

The registrar, however, dismissed their complaints after the inquiry.

In the 2013 general election, the Segamat seat was won by MIC president Dr S. Subramaniam, who defeated PKR’s Dr Chua Jui Meng with a 1,217-vote majority. – January 8, 2018.