PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has set April 17 this year to hear Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s (PKR) application for leave to appeal a Court of Appeal’s decision that reduced the bond payment for its former vice-president Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin from RM10 million to RM100,000 in a breach of party bond case.
PKR’s lawyer, Navpreet Singh, confirmed with Bernama that Federal Court deputy registrar Husna Dzulkifly set the hearing date during a case management session last Monday.
He also said that all parties involved have been instructed to file their written submissions by April 2, and another case management session will be held on April 7 to update the court on compliance.
PKR had filed its appeal on Jan 8, seeking to reinstate the High Court’s ruling requiring Zuraida to pay RM10 million for breaching the bond.
On Dec 11 last year, the appellate court three-man bench led by Justice Datuk See Mee Chun upheld the High Court’s ruling that Zuraida had breached the bond that had bound her to the party but reduced the quantum from RM10 million to only RM100,000.
The High Court in Kuala Lumpur had, on June 23 last year, ordered Zuraida, who is the former Ampang Member of Parliament, to pay RM10 million after ruling in favour of PKR in a lawsuit against her.
Judge Datuk Akhtar Tahir found the bond to be a valid and binding contract.
In 2020, PKR secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, on behalf of the party, initiated the suit, claiming Zuraida breached the bond she had signed.
The terms of the bond, among others, required Zuraida to pay PKR RM10 million within seven days of winning an election on the PKR ticket, should she resign from the party, join another political party, or become an independent representative.
In her defence, Zuraida contended that she was forced to sign the bond with the party to be able to stand for election as a candidate in the 14th General Election (GE14) in 2018.
