Three former Negeri Sembilan Undangs and the serving Undang of Johol today withdrew their judicial review bid seeking an order compelling the state’s Menteri Besar to sign a proclamation relating to the removal of Yang di-Pertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir.
The applicants are Datuk Mubarak Thahak, Datuk Maarof Mat Rashad, Datuk Muhammed Abdullah and Datuk Abd Rahim Yasin.
Their lawyer, Mohd Khairul Azam Aziz, informed Judge Norliza Othman during case management that the four intended to withdraw the application with no order as to costs, saying the matter had become academic after the Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar executed the proclamation dated Aug 3, 2026.
The withdrawal was not objected to by senior federal counsel Nurhafizza Azizan, who appeared for the Attorney General’s Chambers.
However, lawyer Steven Thiru, who represented Dewan Keadilan dan Undang (DKU) Negeri Sembilan and its secretary Raja Norazli Raja Nordin, did not object to the withdrawal but sought RM10,000 in costs from each applicant.
The application for costs was supported by lawyer Robert Low, who represented current Undang Luak Rembau Hassan Ab Hamid, and lawyer Jasmin Irisa Ahmad Mirza, who represented Muhammad Faris Johari, the Undang of Sungai Ujong, who replaced Mubarak Thahak.
The proposed interveners — DKU, its secretary, the Undang of Sungai Ujong and the Undang of Rembau – sought costs on the grounds that the withdrawal had rendered the proceedings unnecessary.
“After hearing submissions from the parties, the court grants the withdrawal with no liberty to file afresh. The court ordered the four applicants to pay RM10,000 in costs to each of the proposed interveners,” the judge said
Speaking to reporters after the proceedings, Steven contended that the judicial review application filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court amounted to an abuse of process as the applicants had failed to disclose the existence of pending proceedings at the Seremban High Court.
“Importantly, the JR (judicial review) in the Kuala Lumpur High Court was an abuse of process because the applicants did not disclose in their JR application the pending proceedings in the Seremban High Court, which the applicants had commenced with two others.
This included an injunction order dated June 5, 2026, and leave for committal proceedings granted on July 8, 2026, both obtained by DKU and its secretary from the Seremban High Court,” he said.
Steven also alleged that the filing of the Kuala Lumpur application amounted to forum shopping and involved the suppression of material facts from the court.
Meanwhile, Mohd Khairul said the application was withdrawn as the matter had become academic following the Menteri Besar’s execution of the Proclamation dated Aug 3, 2026.
The judicial review application was filed on July 17, 2026, naming the Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar and the state government as respondents.
The application sought a mandamus order compelling the Menteri Besar to sign a proclamation seeking the removal of Tuanku Muhriz and a further proclamation naming Tunku Nadzaruddin Tuanku Jaafar as the 12th Yang di-Pertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan.
The applicants had also sought an order requiring the Menteri Besar to sign the document within seven days of the court order.
