Judge Mariana Yahya fixed the date today after hearing arguments online by Muda’s lawyers, led by Tommy Thomas, and the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), appearing for the home minister and the Registrar of Societies (RoS).

Senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly @ Arwi had earlier raised an objection against Muda’s bid to initiate a judicial review on grounds that the party should have exhausted its appeal before the home minister before going to court.

Ahmad Hanir said Muda had 30 days from Jan 6 to lodge its appeal under Section 18 of Societies Act.

Muda, through Syed Saddiq and 12 founding members, is seeking to challenge RoS’ decision to refuse to register it as a society.

They claim that the home minister and RoS had acted ultra vires the Societies Act over its decision not to register Muda, and the decision is, therefore, null and void.

They said RoS had sent them an email on Jan 6, informing them of its decision, but no reason was given.

In addition to Muda, RoS had also rejected the application by Pejuang, led by Dr Mahathir Mohamad, for registration, prompting the party to withdraw its judicial review application to compel the registrar to respond to its registration application.

Syed Saddiq, in his affidavit seen by FMT, alleged that home minister Hamzah Zainudin had “enticed” him to support Perikatan Nasional if he wanted Muda’s registration to be approved.

He claimed that his conversation with Hamzah took place at the Dewan Rakyat late last year during the Budget meeting, when he brought up the matter with the minister, who oversees RoS.

He claimed Hamzah went on to say that even if he (Syed Saddiq) opposed government bills, he should stay away from the Dewan Rakyat when voting took place.

“I was shocked. I replied that I cannot abdicate my duty as an MP and will always vote in accordance with my conscience and the interest of my constituents,” he said in the affidavit.