Apex court: Sultan Mizan remains rightful ruler of Terengganu

The Federal Court has ruled that Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin remains the rightful sultan of Terengganu.

The bench, led by Chief Justice Md Raus Sharif, dismissed the leave to appeal by Tengku Sulaiman Tengku Abdul Halim, the eldest grandson of Tengku Ali Sultan Sulaiman, to challenge the members of Dewan Pangkuan Diraja Terengganu, and the Terengganu government.

The other judges are Justice Hasan Lah and Justice Ramly Ali.

Tengku Sulaiman's grandfather, Tengku Ali, was the Sultan of Terengganu from Sept 26, 1942, to Nov 5, 1945.

However, Tengku Ali was deposed in 1945 by the British and replaced by his uncle, Tengku Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Sultan Zainal Abidin III, who later became the sultan.

Tengku Sulaiman claimed that as the eldest grandson of Tengku Ali, and that his father is the eldest son to his grandfather, he had the hereditary right to the throne of the state and hence sought a declaration to ascend the throne.

Tengku Sulaiman also named Tengku Muhammad Ismail Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin, Isa @ Ghazali Endut, Tengku Ibrahim Tengku Hussain, Syed Omar Abdul Kadir Al Idrus and Sheikh Harun Sheikh Ismail, who are members of the Dewan Pangkuan Diraja Terengganu, and the Terengganu government as respondents.

In his argument to the apex court, Tengku Sulaiman's lawyer T Mura Raju said that his client's case is different from Tengku Ali's case, which was filed in the 1990s.

In that case, Tengku Ali had sought for his pension from the state as a result of being a former ruler of Terengganu.

“The previous case did not decide on the issue of succession,” said Mura Raju.

However, Cecil Abraham, who appeared for the Dewan Pangkuan Diraja Terengganu, told the bench that the judgment in Tengku Ali's case pointed on the issue of succession and it had been decided there that it is non-justiciable.

Hence, the lawyer said the principle of res judicata applies.

“The law regarding succession (of royal households) is well established and is not justiciable by the court,” said Justice Md Raus Sharif.

Res judicata is the legal term to mean that a matter had been adjudicated by a competent court and may not be pursued further by the same parties.

The bench also ordered Tengku Sulaiman to pay RM30,000 in total costs to the respondents.

It was reported on July 31 this year that the Court of Appeal upheld the Kuala Terengganu High Court's decision to strike out Tengku Sulaiman’s application on the grounds of res judicata and it being non-justiciable.- Mkini