Negeri Sembilan court allows contempt proceedings against Undangs, two others

TheEdge Wed, Jul 08, 2026 05:09pm - 1 week View Original

It is understood that there were four separate committal proceeding applications, two for actions before June 5 and two after that date, with Roz Mawar only allowing the two after the ad interim injunction was issued by the court.

SEREMBAN (July 8): The Seremban High Court on Wednesday allowed contempt proceedings against the state’s chieftains and two others for allegedly defying a temporary injunction.

Judge Roz Mawar Rozain granted leave, or permission, sought by Dewan Keadilan dan Undang Negeri Sembilan (DKU) and its secretary Raja Norazli Raja Nordin to initiate the committal proceedings following involvement of the chieftains in the appointment of a new Yang di-Pertuan Besar.

Ruling that a prima facie case has been successfully established, she refused request for a stay and fixed July 28 for the committal proceedings.

The territorial chieftains, also known as Undangs, named are Datuk Maarof Mat Rashid (Jelebu), Datuk Muhammed Abdullah (Johol) and Datuk Abd Rahim Yasin (Rembau). Datuk Mubarak Thahak, whose status as Undang Sungei Ujong is under dispute, was also included in the application.

Tunku Syed Razman Tunku Syed Idrus Al Qadri, the Tengku Besar Tampin, and Datuk Seri Badarudin Abdul Khalid, the Datuk Shahbandar Sungei Ujong, were also targets of the proceedings.

It is understood that there were four separate committal proceeding applications, two for actions before June 5 and two after that date, with Roz Mawar only allowing the two after the ad interim injunction was issued by the court.

The injunction

In May, the six plaintiffs filed a legal action naming Raja Norazli and the DKU as the respondents to compel them to produce the April 17 meeting minutes of the DKU that led to the official removal of Mubarak as an Undang. The Negeri Sembilan government is also named as a respondent.

Legal representatives of the DKU and Raja Norazli argued that the court had no jurisdiction to hear matters regarding the DKU and its decision, as it is considered non-justiciable. Roz Mawar then rejected their bid for a stay of the April 17 DKU decision to remove Mubarak, pending determination over whether the DKU’s decision was justiciable or otherwise.

However, the Undangs and Mubarak issued a declaration in May calling for the removal of incumbent ruler Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir and Raja Norazli as the DKU secretary.

On June 5, Roz Mawar imposed a temporary injunction order to preserve the status quo amid customary and constitutional crises in Negeri Sembilan.

The injunction granted by Roz Mawar bars the six people and any connected person, committee, or body from:

convening, calling, holding, conducting, proceeding with, attending or participating in any meeting of, or calling itself as a meeting of, the DKU including (without limitation) the special sitting announced for June 5, 2026, in the plaintiffs’ joint media statement dated May 29, 2026;
purporting to suspend, remove, replace, interfere with and/or prevent the Raja Norazli from carrying out his functions, duties and responsibilities under the laws of the Constitution of Negeri Sembilan 1959 as the secretary of the DKU;
purporting to establish, appoint, authorise or empower any further committee, person or body, or to act through any committee, person or body purportedly already established, to undertake, exercise or assume the powers, functions, duties and responsibilities of the DKU secretary;
holding themselves out, whether by correspondence, media statement or otherwise, as acting for or on behalf of the DKU;
taking any steps, making any decisions and/or implementing any decisions concerning the administration, governance, proceedings, authority and affairs of the DKU; and
otherwise taking any steps which alter, affect and/or interfere with the status quo relating to the administration, governance, proceedings and affairs of the DKU as it stood immediately prior to May 21, 2026, being the date on which the plaintiffs issued the document called “Sabda Memerintahkan Setiausaha Memanggil Sidang Khas DKU".

On June 12, the customary institution and Raja Norazli accused the six of violating the interim injunction imposed by the court by suspending Raja Norazli as the secretary of the DKU. Raja Norazli rejected the decision, maintaining that only the Yang di-Pertuan Besar possesses the authority to remove him from office.

Media barred from online proceedings

The Tuesday-Wednesday proceedings were conducted online before Roz Mawar, though journalists who applied to join the proceedings on Wednesday were denied access.

Steven Thiru, Shafrin Halim and Gurjeevan Singh Sachdev appeared for the DKU and Raja Norazli in the committal proceedings against the Undangs, Mubarak, and the two noblemen of Negeri Sembilan.

The six, meanwhile, are represented by Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud, Datuk Mohammed Rhiza Ghazi, Datuk Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin, Woo J Enn, Asmawi Ismail and Emirul Sarifudin.

Both Thiru and Awang Armadajaya confirmed the Wednesday’s outcome to The Edge.

Awang Armadajaya said he would seek instructions on whether to appeal Roz Mawar’s decision over the committal proceedings.

The Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly was dissolved last month and a state election was announced by the Election Commission, with polling on Aug 1.

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