JUDGMENT

Wan Hamzah SCJ:

The National Union of Bank Employees ("the Union") is a trade union registered under the Trade Unions Act. In 1964 the Union established the National Union of Bank Employees Benevolent Fund ("the Benevolent Fund"). Under r. 4 of the Benevolent Fund Rules every member of the Union, whose subscriptions are not in arrears, shall automatically become a member of the Benevolent Fund. Rule 2A(1) of the Constitution and Rules of the Union provides as follows:

The objects of the Union shall be to secure the complete organisation of members of the executive, clerical and non-clerical staffs of all commercial banks and their subsidiary finance companies in West Malaysia as may be approved by the National Executive Council.

Rule 3(1) of the Constitution and Rules of the Union provides inter alia as follows:

Any member permanent or temporary of the executive, clerical and non-clerical staffs of any commercial bank in the Federation of Malaya who is above 16 years shall be eligible for membership ...

The appellants (hereafter referred to as the Plaintiffs) were at the material times members of the Union. The first Plaintiff was a founder member of the Union. The second Plaintiff became a member in 1961 and the third Plaintiff in 1958. The first Plaintiff is an Assistant Officer in the Chartered Bank and the second and the third Plaintiffs are Staff Officers in the Hongkong And Shanghai Banking Corporation. They received a letter from the Union dated 23 December 1981 addressed to all officer-members of the Union, by which they were informed that rr. 2A(1) and 3(1) of the Constitution and Rules of the Union have been amended by deletion of the word "executive", the effect of which is that the Union can have only clerical and non-clerical staff within its membership and all officer-members ceased to be members of the Union with effect from 8 December 1981, and the Union would not collect subscriptions from them with effect from that date. The Plaintiffs were also informed that the Registrar of Trade Unions has registered the amendments.

The Plaintiffs contend that the Union has no power to make such amendments to rr. 2A(1) and 3(1) and the amendments are ultra vires the Constitution and Rules of the Union and therefore null and void. They contend that even if the Union has power to make the amendments, they were made in contravention of s. 40(1)(f) of the Trade Unions Act and r. 25 of the Constitution and Rules of the Union in that they were made without secret ballot being taken to sanction the amendments. Section 40(1)(f) of the Trade Unions Act provides as follows:

A trade union shall take a secret ballot to make a decision on any of the following matters-

(a) ...

(b) ...

(c) ...

(d) ...

(e) ...

(f) amendment of rules where such amendment results in increasing the liability of the members to contribute or in decreasing the benefits to which members are entitled.

Rule 25 of the Constitution and Rules of the Union provides as follow:

A secret ballot is required on the following matters subject to the proviso laid down in r. 3(1) herein:

(a) ...

(b) ...

(c) ...

(d) Amendment of Rules where such amendments result in increasing the liability of the members to contribute, or in decreasing the benefits to which members are entitled.

The Plaintiffs further contend that the amendments were made in breach of the principle of natural justice in that the executive staff were not given an opportunity of being heard before the decision to terminate their membership was taken. Therefore they bring the action against the Union claiming:

(a) a declaration that their exclusion from the membership of the Union is ultra vires, illegal and void;

(b) an injunction to restrain the Union from continuing to enforce the exclusion or taking or continuing any steps with a view to effecting the exclusion;

(c) damages for breach of contract.

On filing the writ the Plaintiffs also filed a notice of motion for interlocutory injunction to retrain the Union until judgement