The Federal Government’s memorandum of appeal shows it is challenging key findings and orders in the High Court judgment on Sabah’s 40 per cent special grant, despite assurances that the entitlement itself is not being appealed.
In a statement, nominated assemblyman Datuk Roger Chin (
pic), who is also former Sabah Law Society (SLS) president, said the appeal does not dispute the mathematical formula for the 40 per cent, but targets the legal findings and remedies that give the entitlement force and effect.
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He said the High Court identified a 48-year period from 1974 to 2021, described as the “Lost Years”, during which no lawful review was conducted under Article 112D of the Federal Constitution, resulting in Sabah not receiving its constitutionally required entitlement.
According to Chin, the Court found this failure amounted to a breach of constitutional duty and an abuse of power, and held that Gazette Orders issued in 2022, 2023 and 2025 were unconstitutional.
He said the judgment went beyond declarations by ordering constitutional damages, requiring an accounting of sums owed for the Lost Years, and directing that any future review be conducted lawfully within clear timeframes.
Chin said the memorandum of appeal challenges the findings that no lawful review took place between 1974 and 2021, the conclusions on abuse of power, the invalidation of the Gazette Orders, and the orders for damages, accounting and court-supervised reviews.
He said these elements are central to explaining why Sabah was underpaid for decades and how that loss is to be remedied, and are not peripheral aspects of the judgment.
Chin said claims that the Government is “not appealing the 40 per cent” are misleading, as retaining the formula without the findings and orders would leave the entitlement without effective enforcement.
He said if the appeal succeeds, the entitlement may remain in theory while the mechanisms to acknowledge past underpayment and ensure lawful future reviews are weakened or removed.
Chin said the appeal ultimately raises the question of whether constitutional breaches spanning nearly five decades should carry legal consequences for both Sabah and the integrity of constitutional guarantees in Malaysia.
