By Loshinniy Nair Baskaran
PUTRAJAYA, 20 JUNE 2023: The Federal Court has dismissed the leave application made by a group of seven smokers. The group had sought to challenge the smoking ban at eateries imposed by the Health Ministry. However, the court has rejected their plea. The applicants, Mohd Hanizam Yunus, Zulkifli Mohamad, Mohd Laisani Dollah, Mohd Sufian Awaludin, Ridzuan Muhammad Noor, Mohd Yazid Mohd Yunus, and Yuri Azhar Abdollah, were ruled to have failed to meet the necessary threshold to obtain leave under Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964.
The Smokers Right Club, a group of seven smokers, submitted a leave for judicial review application to the High Court on December 31, 2018, in an effort to overturn the Jan. 1, 2019, effective date of the restaurant smoking ban. The only respondent listed was the Health Ministry. The group argued that since smoking was neither illegal nor outlawed in the nation, the federal constitution was violated by the smoking ban.
The asserted that the action was constitutionally protected and that it was legal. After a thorough hearing, the High Court dismissed the judicial application in October 2019 despite the fact that the leave had been granted. After then, the group appealed the case to the Court of Appeal.
A three-member Court of Appeal bench ruled on November 23 of last year that smoking in public spaces is not a fundamental right that should be safeguarded by the Federal Constitution, upholding the government’s decision to outlaw smoking in all restaurants. At the Federal Court, the group subsequently requested leave to appeal.
Source : Smokers lose bid to challenge ban on lighting up at eateries | The Star
