FORMER attorney-general Tommy Thomas filed an application to strike out a suit filed against him for allegedly mishandling a claim by descendants of the Sulu sultanate over the northern Borneo territory, FreeMalaysiaToday reported.

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2023/02/09/ex-ag-seeks-to-annul-sulu-misfeasance-suit/

The original suit against Thomas was filed by nine plaintiffs, including two Sabah deputy chief ministers.

Thomas’ application to strike the suit was made on the grounds that it “discloses no reasonable cause of action; is scandalous, frivolous and vexatious; will prejudice, embarrass and/or delay the fair trial of the action; and is an abuse of process”.

His Sabah-based lawyers were reported as saying the Kota Kinabalu High Court had on January 3 granted the federal government, which intervened in the suit, a stay of proceedings pending the outcome of a decision on a related case in a Spanish court.

No date has been fixed to hear the case, but case management has been set for March 29. 

Last week, a Spanish constitutional court rejected an appeal by a group claiming to be heirs of the last Sulu sultan in their ongoing dispute with Putrajaya over compensation for the cession of Sabah.

The heirs were seeking to challenge a lower court order, which annulled the appointment of arbitrator Gonzalo Stampa to preside over the dispute.

The plaintiffs filed the suit in August, wanting the court to declare that Thomas had committed misfeasance in public office.

The suit was brought by Sabah deputy chief ministers Jeffrey Kitingan and Joachim Gunsalam, state ministers Jahid Jahim and Ellron Angin, and state deputy ministers Joniston Bangkuai, Abidin Madingkir, Robert Tawfik, Julita Mojungki and Flovia Ng. – February 10, 2023.