IPOH: Perak Speaker V. Sivakumar has been restrained from convening any further unlawful meetings purported to be state assembly meetings after the Ipoh High Court granted an order under Section 44 of Specific Relief Act here yesterday.

The decision to grant the order was made by Judicial Commissioner (JC) Ridwan Ibrahim after hearing representations in chambers from lawyers appearing for both Sivakumar and Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir.

Zambry had sought an injunction from the High Court to stop "all unlawful assembly sittings" by Pakatan Rakyat (PR), which had formed the state government following the March 2008 General Elections before Barisan Nasional (BN) wrested the state back in last month.

Lead counsel for the Mentri Besar, Firoz Hussein Ahmad said he had submitted that the Speaker did not have the power to call any assembly, including an emergency sitting such as the one held earlier yesterday.

Speaking to reporters after obtaining the grant, Firoz said the High Court order had a time limit and penalties would be decided later if and when the Speaker holds the next meeting, which is deemed illegal under the order.

He also said that under the Perak state constitution, the consent of Sultan Azlan Shah must be obtained by the Speaker to convene such a meeting.

Representing the speaker was the Perak assistant state legal adviser, Zulkarnain Hassan.

The order granted by the High Court was among the relief sought by Zambry, who has also filed an originating summons seeking a declaration that Sivakumar's decision to suspend him and six of his exco members was unconstitutional and an abuse of power. The case will be mentioned on March 5.

On Thursday, the High Court would also be hearing the suits filed by former PKR and DAP reps, namely Behrang assemblyman Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi, Changkat Jering assemblyman Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu and Jelapang assemblyman Hee Yit Foong, who are seeking a declaration that their seats are not vacant and that they were still the elected representatives of their respective constituencies.

Earlier today, Sivakumar convened an emergency sitting of the assembly under a tree a few hundred metres outside the Perak state secretariat where three motions were unanimously passed, which include the dissolution of the assembly to pave way for elections in the state.

The morning was an eventful one with the High Court first ruling that Sivakumar's team of lawyers led by Tommy Thomas did not have the locus standi based on the Government Proceedings Act 1965. The JC had ruled that the Speaker had to be represented by the state legal adviser or a person appointed by the latter.

Later in the afternoon, MP for Ipoh Barat M Kulasegaran caused a stir when he appeared at the Ipoh High Court bearing a letter from Sivakumar to be delivered to the JC, in which the Speaker said he had not given any instructions to the state legal advisor Datuk Ahmad Kamal Shahid.

"In the past few weeks and days following the notice to convene a sitting of the Mesyuarat ke-Empat, Penggal Pertama, Dewan Negeri Yang ke-Duabelas of the state legislative assembly, there hasn't been any communication from the office of the state legal advisor that his office is acting on my behalf in the discharge of my office as speaker exercising my duties under the Perak state constitution and Standing Orders.

"I have not received any communications from (the) legal advisor's office nor have I given any instructions to the legal advisor. So it comes as a complete surprise that I was informed that the state legal advisor submitted and refused my appointed legal counsel," he said in a press release distributed to members of the press.

Kulasegaran said the state legal advisor would be acting in conflict of interest as he was already representing Zambry in the ongoing case by the ousted menteri besar, Datuk Nizar Jamaluddin in Kuala Lumpur.

"It is like the left hand suing the right hand," he said.