JUDGMENT

Wong Kian Kheong JCA:

A. Introduction

[1] This appeal (This Appeal) discusses the following two novel questions:

(1) whether the Election Commission, the 1st respondent in This Appeal (1st Respondent), could lawfully deny the right of the appellant (Appellant) under art 119(1) of the Federal Constitution (FC) to vote on 12 March 2022 in the Johore State Elections (Elections) in respect of Skudai constituency on the ground that the Appellant had contracted COVID-19 disease and was consequently barred from voting in the Elections by a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued pursuant to reg 17(1) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures Within Infected Local Areas) (National Recovery Plan) (Transition Phase to Endemic) Regulations 2022 (PCID Regulations); and

(2) if the Appellant's right to vote in the Elections had been unlawfully deprived by the 1st Respondent, in addition to the remedies of a certiorari order and declarations granted by the court, whether the Appellant is entitled to monetary compensation or damages from the respondents in This Appeal (Respondents) when the FC is silent on monetary relief in a case of an unlawful denial of a Malaysian citizen's right to vote. In this regard, is the right to vote:-