Vernon Ong FCJ:

Introduction

[1] As Justice Tan Sri Idrus Harun has since left the Bench and is presently the Attorney General of Malaysia, this judgment is being handed down pursuant to s 78 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 . This is the unanimous decision of the four remaining Judges of this court. The appeal before us relates to the following questions of law for which leave was granted on 6 August 2018:

Question 1

Whether the rule in Sangram Singh v. Election Tribunal [1955] 2 SCR 1 (applied in Hoh Kiang Ngan v. Mahkamah Perusahaan Malaysia & Anor, 1995 MarsdenLR 933 ), namely, that an error of law by a public decision maker does not warrant intervention by judicial review in the absence of substantial injustice, extends to a case where the said public decision maker acts in breach of natural justice?

Question 2

Where judicial review is declined based upon the decision of the High court in a connected matter which decision is reversed on appeal, is the applicant seeking judicial review entitled to judgment in his favour ex debito justitiae?

Salient Facts

[2] The background facts which led to the granting of leave to appeal to the Federal court on the two questions of l