Stay In Sabah Grant Case To Allow Appeal - AGC

KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 (Bernama) -- The Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) today clarified that the stay granted by the Court of Appeal in relation to the review of Sabah’s special grant is to allow the Federal Government’s appeal to be heard and not rendered academic.

In a statement, the AGC said the stay granted today does not cover the Kota Kinabalu High Court’s findings on the 40 per cent entitlement under Article 112C of the Federal Constitution.

The Court of Appeal today allowed the Federal Government’s application to stay the execution of the High Court’s 2025 judgment on the review of Sabah’s special grant for the period from 1974 to 2021, pending the hearing of the appeal.

“The Attorney General’s Chambers also emphasises that the appeal filed by the Federal Government is not against the 40 per cent formula, but concerns the interpretation of provisions in the Federal Constitution, as well as the finding that both the Federal Government and the Sabah State Government had abused their powers and breached constitutional obligations since 1974,” it said.

The Kota Kinabalu High Court on Oct 17 last year ruled that the Federal Government had acted unlawfully and beyond its constitutional powers by failing to fulfil Sabah’s right to 40 per cent of federal revenue for nearly five decades.

The court also ordered that a review be conducted within 90 days, while both governments are to reach a mutual agreement within 180 days from the date of the order regarding the 40 per cent special grant claim for the period from 1974 to 2021.

The order followed the court’s decision to allow a judicial review application by the Sabah Law Society (SLS) against the Federal Government and the Sabah State Government over the state’s constitutional right to 40 per cent of net revenue derived from Sabah.

-- BERNAMA