PKR’s lead counsel William Leong said the court was told that the plaintiff was unable to serve the writ of summons at both her office and home address.
“Further case management was fixed on Nov 16,” said Leong via WhatsApp after the matter came up for case management before High Court deputy registrar Nor Afidah Idris.
Leong said the plaintiff had sent Zuraida via registered post a request for her to appoint and instruct a firm of solicitors to accept service on her behalf.
“We are now in the process of making an appointment with her to accept service. The next case management date is to update the court regarding the progress of the case and to seek for further directions on the pleadings,” he said.
The suit was filed by PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail on behalf of the party on Oct 2, claiming that Zuraida, who is also housing and local government minister, had signed the bond on April 25, 2018, stipulating she pay RM10 million to PKR if she were to leave the party after contesting on their ticket.
The party claimed that on Feb 24, Zuraida, along with 10 other PKR MPs announced their resignation from the party without vacating her seat and subsequently formed a new bloc known as Perikatan Nasional (PN) with other opposition parties, including Barisan Nasional, PAS and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).
PKR said that the federal government led by Pakatan Harapan (PH) was then toppled by PN, which saw the defendant being appointed as a minister.
On the same date (Feb 24), PKR claimed that its Central Leadership Council had approved a resolution to strip Zuraida of her party membership with immediate effect and issued a certificate dated July 24 confirming the termination of her membership.
On Aug 7, PKR claimed that it had, through its lawyers, issued a letter of demand requiring Zuraida to pay the sum of RM10 million in accordance with the terms of the agreement, but the party claimed that the defendant had failed/refused to pay the amount in total or part thereof.
The plaintiff claimed that it was entitled to seek RM10 million from the defendant because her resignation as a party member but not as the MP for Ampang – the seat which she won on the party’s ticket using the party’s logo, emblem, flag, services, and support – had deprived the party of the benefits and advantages of having an MP in the Dewan Rakyat and being part of the executive government.
The plaintiff said that it relied on Section 71 of the Contracts Act 1950 to establish its right to recover the remunerations and benefits amounting to RM2,049,459.20 enjoyed by the defendant having been elected as the party’s candidate in the 14th general election (GE14) as Ampang MP.
As such, the plaintiff is seeking a total of RM12,049,459.20 under Section 71 of the Contracts Act, which comprises RM10 million under the bond and RM2,049,459.20 for the remunerations and benefits the defendant received as an MP and housing and local government minister under the PH government, with an interest of 5% annually as well as other costs and relief deemed fit by the court.