By FMT Reporters | Free Malaysia Today
The Federal Court has retained the Jan 6 date to hear an appeal by eight former staff of former Selangor menteri besar Khalid Ibrahim who were ordered to return their “golden handshake” payments amounting to RM2.7 miilion.
The payments were awarded after Khalid was removed from office in 2014 following the “Kajang Move” by PKR that ousted him.
Court deputy registrar Azniza Mohd Ali had ordered parties to file their written submissions by Dec 16.
The staff included Faekah Husin, the former CEO of Menteri Besar Incorporated (MBI), who was paid RM695,400 in compensation, and ex-chief operating officer Rohani Talib, who received RM524,400.
Other support staff were Arfa’eza Abdul Aziz, who received RM476,935, Mustapha Mohd Talib (RM265,320), Rahimah Kamarudin (RM265,650), Sulaiman Masri (RM182,385), Abdul Halim Mohamed Yusof (RM186,300), and Tuan Nazuri Tuan Ismail (RM115,200).
Lawyer Hoe Sue Lu, who represented the eight, said a case management was done via e-review today to ensure all cause papers, including the appeal records, were in order.
“As such, the January hearing date fixed earlier is maintained,” she said, adding that the case had been postponed thrice since last year, with one due to the movement control order (MCO) imposed to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
MBI filed the suit in 2015 to reclaim the money paid to them through a voluntary separation scheme (VSS).
In 2017, the High Court held that the payments to all eight had been legally made. MBI then appealed.
In May 2018, the Court of Appeal held that Khalid was not authorised to approve the payments without going through the MBI board of directors.
Last year, the Federal Court allowed the eight leave to appeal against ruling by the Court of Appeal.
The court also allowed four legal questions framed by the applicants, including on whether MBI, which was established by the Menteri Besar Selangor (Incorporation) Enactment 1994, is a sole or corporate aggregate.
Lead counsel for the appellants, Edmund Bon Tai Soon, had submitted that it was the first case of its kind and the court’s decision would affect MBI in five states as well as the finance minister and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).
