PUTRAJAYA – Former PKR vice-president Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin has been ordered to pay only RM100,000 from RM10 million to PKR for breaching the party bond.
However, a three-member bench comprising Court of Appeal judges Datuk See Mee Chun, Datuk Azman Abdullah and Datuk Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid, in a unanimous decision, upheld a high court ruling that Zuraida had breached the party bond.
Justice See when reading the judgment said that the RM10 million compensation imposed by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Zuraida was unreasonable.
On June 23, 2023, high court judge Datuk Akhtar Tahir ordered the former Ampang MP to pay RM10 million after ruling in favour of PKR in the suit against her.
The judge found the bond to be a valid and binding contract.
The suit was filed by PKR secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail on September 28, 2020, on behalf of the party to claim RM10 million from Zuraida for allegedly breaching the bond binding her to the party.
In the statement of claim, PKR claimed that Zuraida had signed a bond on April 25, 2018, binding her to pay RM10 million to the party as stated in the bond’s terms and conditions.
PKR claimed that Zuraida agreed to pay the party RM10 million at the latest seven days, in the event of several incidents, after winning the election on a PKR ticket, including if she resigns from the party or joins other political parties or becomes an independent elected representative.
The party claimed that on or around February 24, 2020, Zuraida in a statement with 10 PKR MPs announced their resignation from the party without her resigning as Ampang MP, and eventually formed a new bloc known as Perikatan Nasional (PN).
Zuraida, in her statement of defence, claimed that she was forced to sign the bond with the party to become its candidate in the 14th General Election in 2018. – December 11, 2024