Lawyer applies for summary judgment to recover RM12.5mil from Bersatu

A lawyer who is suing Bersatu and its principal office-bearers to recover RM12.5 million in unpaid legal fees has now filed an application for a summary judgment.

Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla wants the High Court to make a ruling based on affidavits and legal documents.

His lawyer, Nurul Huda Razali, said the application for the summary judgment under Order 14 of the Rules of Court was filed against the defendants last week.

“There is no need to call witnesses to give evidence. Instead, affidavits and documents can be relied upon for the court to make a decision,” she told FMT after an online case management before deputy registrar R Puspharasi today.

The defendants, represented by Chetan Jethwani, have been directed to file an affidavit in reply to Haniff’s application by Feb 3.

Another case management has been fixed on Feb 21.

Haniff, in his statement of claim, said the invoice for payment was issued to party president Muhyiddin Yassin, secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin and treasurer Mohamed Salleh Bajuri.

Apart from the trio, Bersatu is also named as defendant in the suit filed in July after all failed to respond to a reminder to pay up.

Haniff said the money was for legal services rendered before Bersatu was formed until it pulled out of Pakatan Harapan (PH) in early 2020, prior to the setting up of Perikatan Nasional.

He added that before the 14th general election (GE14), he represented the party in a kleptocracy, corruption and abuse of power suit against then prime minister Najib Razak and his administration.

The statement said Haniff’s services came to an end on Feb 24, 2020 following the Sheraton Move, which led to the collapse of the PH government.

In their defence, Bersatu and the office-bearers want the lawyer’s suit to be dismissed as there was no agreement between them.

The defendants said all services rendered by Haniff were voluntary and without expectation of payment.

Further, they said, the sum claimed is grossly excessive and unlawful.

“The decision to charge Bersatu the legal fees is an afterthought and the fee claims also do not commensurate with the amount intended to be charged by the plaintiff,” the defence document said.

The defendants added that the alleged invoice issued on Feb 11 last year did not conform with the Legal Profession Act and it was not properly served.

The defendants also claim that the legal services were only rendered to the party’s former chairman, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, as Haniff was his legal adviser. FMT

Lawyer applies for summary judgment to recover RM12.5mil from Bersatu

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