By Malay Mail
The Federal Court today dismissed the bid by University of Malaya (UM)’s Students Disciplinary Committee and four others to overturn the appellate court’s ruling last October, in favour of five former UM students.
A three-man bench led by Chief Justice Tun Md Raus Sharif in a unanimous decision affirmed the Court of Appeal’s ruling after hearing submissions from UM’s lawyer Datuk Muhammad Adam Abdullah and the students’ counsel Edmund Bon.
The students comprised former Persatuan Mahasiswa Universiti Malaya (PMUM) president Fahmi Zainol and his then committee members Safwan Shamsuddin, Adam Fistival Wilfrid, Haw Yu Hong, and Khairol Najib Hashim, who graduated in 2016 and 2017.
They were found guilty by the university of involvement in a talk featuring Anwar Ibrahim in October 2014.
Fahmi was suspended for two semesters and fined RM600, Safwan was suspended for one semester and fined RM300, Adam and Haw were fined RM150 each, and Khairol was issued a reprimand.
The five took the matter to the High Court.
On July 29, 2016, the Shah Alam High Court allowed the students leave for judicial review to quash the UM’s action against them.
It ruled that the disciplinary proceedings were not conducted in accordance with the university’s Kaedah-Kaedah Universiti Malaya Tatatertib Pelajar-Pelajar 1997.
The UM disciplinary committee, its appeals committee, board of directors, treasurer, and UM appealed against the decision but the Court of Appeal on October 31, 2017 upheld the high court’s ruling.
Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum and Federal Court judge Tan Sri Jeffery Tan Kok Wha sat with Md Raus at the proceeding today.
