{
  "id": 17902671,
  "title": "Lawyer withdraws bid to challenge office smoking ban",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/03/lawyer-withdraws-bid-to-challenge-office-smoking-ban",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-03T03:32:49.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2026/11/03/lawyer-withdraws-bid-to-challenge-office-smoking-ban"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdulla has dropped his attempt to challenge a smoking ban in private offices. Haniff's legal representative, Nurul Huda Razali, informed the High Court that new developments had arisen, prompting the withdrawal of the judicial review application. The matter was originally set to be heard today. Haniff's legal team argued that the ban on smoking in private offices, as per the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024, was unconstitutional. They also sought an order exempting Haniff's law firm in Kota Damansara from the ban, citing his heavy smoking habit and prior notification to employees and clients about his smoking behavior. The government, represented by senior federal counsel Sallehuddin Ali, did not object to the withdrawal. Justice Azizan Md Arshad granted the withdrawal and ordered Haniff to pay RM5,000 in costs to the government. The court also cautioned lawyers against withdrawing cases without prior notification. Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control appeared as amicus curiae, supporting Haniff's case.",
  "summary": "Senior federal counsel Sallehuddin Ali says the government does not object to the withdrawal.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}