Businessman gets leave for judicial review against DBKL for its enforcement action

A BUSINESSMAN has initiated judicial review proceedings against Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) for enforcement action taken on his massage centre for operating without a licence in Jalan Thambipillay, Brickfields.

Abdul Halim Mohamad, through his company Orbyx Sdn Bhd, has been granted leave by the High Court for the review.

In the notice of application, he named the Kuala Lumpur mayor and Federal Territories Department director-general as the first and second respondents, respectively.

In his supporting affidavit, Abdul Halim said he took over operations of the unlicensed traditional massage and reflexology centre on May 1 and applied for a business licence via DBKL’s eLesen portal on May 29.

He said DBKL’s enforcement officers came to check his premises on July 26, and demanded “protection money” from his employee or face action.

Due to his refusal, he claimed that the officers ransacked the centre, issued a compound and sealed the premises under Licensing of Trades, Businesses and Industries (Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur) By-Laws 2016.

Abdul Halim said business operators were exempt from enforcement action pending the result of their business licence application at the time.

He also said that DBKL did not have the authority to seal premises under the by-law.

City Hall, he added, did not entertain his requests for the seal to be removed even after the compound was paid on Aug 10.

Having suffered financial losses due to the closure of his business for an extended period of time, Abdul Halim subsequently lodged a police report on Sept 14, and the seal was removed and he resumed operations soon after.

However, DBKL’s enforcement officers continued giving him a hard time, he claimed.

The businessman is seeking a certiorari order to quash the compounds issued as well as a declaration that the act of sealing the premises was unlawful and for a restraining order against sealing business premises under the by-law, among others.

His lawyer, Muhammad Mustaqim Ahmad Huzaini from Messrs Amin Chambers, said the matter had been fixed for case management on Dec 22.