Hold off on your celebrations, Sabahans told on the federal government's decison not to appeal over the 40 per cent revenue ruling

KUCHING, Nov 11 2025: Professor Dr James Chin of Asian Studies at the University of Tasmania has told Sabahans to hold off on their celebrations over the announcement that the federal  government will not appeal against the 40 per cent revenue ruling by the Kota Kinbalu High Court.

Caption: Professor Dr James Chin says that Sabahans should take a closer look at the fine print in  the statement 

In a Facebook post, he said the Sabahans (and Sarawakians) should take a closer look at the fine print in that bureaucratic jargon in the statement issued by the federal Attorney-General Chambers (A-GC) this evening.

“It explicitly leaves room for an appeal challenging the grounds of the ruling; and we all know what happens if those grounds are deemed flawed,” Chin warned.

“This carefully worded statement is really just a lifeline to keep Malayan parties and their local allies from getting decimated in the 17^th Sabah state election,” he said.

“Without this statement, all Malaya parties will be kaput,” he said, adding that Sabahans have the hearts of gold, but that makes them the prime targets for deception “if we don't know how to decode these government communiqués.”

“Stay sharp,” he said, urging the netizens to viral his post.

In a statement, the  A-GC said the federal government will not appeal against the decision of the Kota Kinabalu High over the 40 per cent entitlement of the revenue derived from Sabah.

However, the federal government will appeal the defects in the reasons for judgment.

A special cabinet meeting this afternoon discussed the court’s judgment regarding the Sabah state special grant decided in the Judicial Review Application filed by the Sabah Law Society against the Malaysian government.

The AG said that while the federal government respects the principle of the special grant based on 40 percent of revenue as provided for under the Federal Constitution, he provided advice and views to the Cabinet regarding the defects in the reasons for judgment.

“Among them are the allegations that the federal government and the Sabah state government have abused their power and violated their constitutional obligations.

“This claim will involve the federal government and the Sabah state government since 1974.

“In addition, the reasons for judgment also stated that the review after 2021 is unlawful, irrational, procedurally irregular and disproportionate.

“The federal government will appeal the defects in the reasons for judgment,” the statement said.

On Oct 17, the High Court ordered the federal and Sabah governments to review the 40 per cent special grant entitlement for 1974-2021, giving them 90 days to complete the review and 180

days to reach a final agreement.

The judge made the ruling after allowing the Sabah Law Society’s (SLS) application for a judicial review, which contended that both the federal and Sabah governments had breached their constitutional duties by failing to legally review the payments.

The case centred on the interpretation of Articles 112C and 112D of the Federal Constitution. Article 112C deals with special grants and the assignment of revenue to Sabah and Sarawak, while Article 112D provides for periodic reviews of these grants