“It vindicates our position that the suspension was unfair and without justification,” said The Edge media group in a statement.
The High Court in Kuala Lumpur on Monday quashed the three month ban imposed by the Home Ministry on two The Edge publications on July 27.
High Court judge for appellant and special powers Justice Asmabi Mohamad ruled that the letter of suspension given to the applicants (The Edge) under Section 7(1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 were ultra vires with the provision itself.
“I agree with the applications that Section 7(1) is merely an ’empowering provision’ and did not provide for suspension of the permit.”
“The suspension was ‘tainted with illegality’ and ultra vires Section 7(1),” she said in quashing the suspension dated July 27.
Justice Asmabi stated in her ruling that the show cause letter dated July 1 to the business publication was too “general”.
“The Ministry did not specify which articles were ‘prejudicial to public order’, as the applicants had stated the business dailies have published over 300 articles on 1MDB since 2009,” she said, adding that the Ministry gave “blanket allegations” on the publications.
“There are no particulars on the Ministry’s allegations on the publishing company, in my view,” she said.
She awarded cost of RM15,000 to The Edge.
The quantum of damages will be accessed soon.
The Edge’s lawyer Raja Eileen Soraya said the publications, based on the Court decision, can start their printing from Tuesday.
Senior Federal Counsel for the Home Ministry, Alice Loke Yee Ching, said she will take instructions whether to appeal or otherwise.
The Edge Financial, daily and weekly editions, was suspended on July 27, following reports on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Subsequently, The Edge filed for a Judicial Review against the Ministry’s decision to suspend their daily and weekly publications for three months.
The business publications were suspended under Section 7 of the Printing Presses and Publication Act 1984 due to articles on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), that were said to be prejudicial to public order, national security and likely to alarm public opinion.
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