A-GC moves to block judicial review of 2024 diesel subsidy removal

The Attorney-General's Chambers (A-GC) has opposed a request by Azhani Marlan and Mohd Hatta Sanuri for a judicial review of the Malaysian government's decision to eliminate and simplify diesel subsidies in Peninsular Malaysia in June 2024. Senior federal counsel Mohammad Sallehuddin argued that the decision cannot be challenged through judicial review because it is not governed by any written law. Instead, it is a policy decision that the court cannot adjudicate.

Mohammad Sallehuddin further contended that the court would not need to examine the matter, as diesel prices and subsidy methods had been standardized nationwide on July 1, 2023. The application for judicial review was filed on Oct 7, 2024, by the two men, who also sought to declare the June 9, 2024, decision to raise the retail diesel price from RM2.15 to RM3.35 per litre (a 56% increase) as null and void in law. The new price took effect on June 10, 2024, in Peninsular Malaysia, while Sabah and Sarawak were exempted.

The applicants' lawyer, Mohaji Selamat, argued that the decision can be subject to judicial review as it does not involve national security or any specific prerogative power that is ordinarily non-justiciable. He claimed that the federal constitution's Article 8 and the Control of Supplies Act 1961 give grounds for the judicial review. Mohaji stressed that the issue should not be dismissed as academic merely because the government is reinstating diesel subsidies in Peninsular Malaysia in stages.