KUALA LUMPUR: The owners of the controversial Crackhouse Comedy Club have initiated legal proceedings over the blacklisting of its premises by the City Hall last year.
The owners – Rizal van Geyzal and Shankar R. Santhiram claimed that the decisions were disproportionate and had affected their source of income.
The duo, in their leave to initiate judicial review, is seeking a declaration by the court to dismiss City Hall's decision to revoke their license as well as to quash a ruling that blacklisted them from registering any businesses in the city.
The applicants named City Hall, its mayor Datuk Seri Mahadi Che Ngah, the then deputy federal territories minister Datuk Seri Jalaluddin Alias, the federal territories ministry, and the government as respondents.
On July 10, the Crackhouse Comedy Club in Taman Tun Dr Ismail was ordered to shut temporarily.
The club did not have an entertainment licence from 2014 to 2017, while the licences approved for the club since 2018 was for restaurant operations and the selling of liquor and not for entertainment.
On July 22, the club owner Mohammad Rizal Johan Van Geyzel was charged in the Sessions Court with three counts of posting insulting remarks touching on religious and racial sensitivities.
He, however, pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Earlier, Nuramira Abdullah, 26, who performed at the club, was accused of insulting Islam by admitting she was a Muslim and had memorised 15 juzuk (chapters) of the Quran, before taking off her baju kurung at the premises on June 4.