Parti Sosialis Malaysia's (PSM) suit against the Home Affairs Minister for refusing to register it as a political party will be heard at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on July 24.

On April 30, 1998, the PSM pro-tem committee chaired by former ISA detainee Dr Mohd Nasir Hashim had applied to register the party with the Registrar of Societies but was rejected on Feb 4, 1999.

Its appeal on Feb 23 the same year was rejected seven months later on Sept 15.

On Oct 26, PSM then applied for a court order to quash Home Affairs Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's decision disallowing their registration.

When the matter was first mentioned Nov 22 last year, Senior Federal Counsel Azahar Mohamed, representing the minister, sought a postponement to facilitate an out-of-court agreement.

The case was postponed a second time on Dec 13 to allow more time for the same.

On Monday, Nasir announced in a press statement that the mediation had failed and that PSM counsel Teng Chang Khim had sent a letter to Azahar informing him that the party will be continuing with legal action.

In its suit, PSM claimed that the Home Affairs Minister had not given any reason for rejecting the party's appeal and had acted beyond his powers under Article 10 (1) (c) of the Federal Constitution.

Article 10 refers to the right of citizens to form associations subject to certain restrictions imposed by the law.

Besides Teng, PSM is being represented by Tommy Thomas and R Kesavan.

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