The Constitution was supreme

MP Gobind Singh Deo (DAP - Puchong) remains suspended from the Dewan Rakyat after the High Court ruled that the parliamentary proceedings cannot be challenged in court, under Article 63 (1) of the Federal Constitution. The court ruled that the constitution was supreme and it cannot question proceedings of the Dewan Rakyat.

The judgment contradicts an earlier Federal Court decision which ruled that BN's Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Zambry Abd Kadir and his six executive council members used the right procedure in challenging State Assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar in court for the suspension ordered against them. This ruling is not in line with Article 72 (1) of the Federal Constitution which stated that any proceeding in the state legislative assembly cannot be questioned in any court.

However, the Judicial Commissioner Justice Mohd Ariff Mohd Yusoff ruled that Gobind is entitled to his monthly salary and other monetary benefits as clearly stated in Article 64 of the Federal Constitution. Therefore, the Parliament should also repay MP Karpal Singh (DAP - Bukit Gelugor) and MP Fong Po Kuan (DAP - Batu Gajah) for illegally withholding their parliamentary remuneration when they were previously suspended from Dewan Rakyat respectively in 2004 and 2001, as said by the former Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang.

Upholding the Constitution!