KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has set July 28 to decide on a judicial review application by three individuals to challenge the renewal of the rare earth miner's operating licence given to Lynas Corp Ltd.
The three - Save Malaysia Stop Lynas chairperson Tan Bun Teet, 73, and two other Kuantan residents, Ismail Abu Bakar, 73, and G Ponusamy, 71, - filed the application through Messrs Azri Lee Swee Seng & Co. on Nov 8 two years ago.
They named the then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, 27 other Ministers and Cabinet members, federal government, the Atomic Energy Licensing Board and Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd as the respondents.
The trio filed the application to quash the government's six-month extension of the operating licence for the controversial Lynas rare earth processing plant near Kuantan, Pahang.
Counsel Dinesh Athinarayanan when contacted said High Court judge Datuk Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid fixed the date after hearing submissions from both parties via video conference today.
He said the respondents represented by senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanif Hambaly argued that this application was academic as Lynas's licences expired on March 2 last year.
"However, we contended that the application is not academic as all licenses of Lynas are inextricably linked and the legality of the current operating licence must depend on its predecessors," he said.
He said the applicants led by Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram also argued that the powers to approve the extension lies solely with the energy minister, as stipulated in the Atomic Energy Licensing Act, and not with the Cabinet.