Kedah pushes legal challenge after Court of Appeal rules against gambling licence freeze

ALOR SETAR, June 7 — Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor is not giving up the state’s decision to stop issuing and renewing number-betting outlet licences, despite losing the case at the Court of Appeal.

He said the state will pursue the legal battle all the way to the Federal Court, The Star reported today.

“We are not giving up and will bring this case to the highest court. We have already started the process to go to the Federal Court,” he was quoted as saying.

Sanusi said the state had anticipated the outcome, although the full written judgment was only recently released.

On June 2, the Court of Appeal released its written grounds for a December ruling that Kedah could not impose a blanket ban on lottery and betting businesses solely on policy objections to gambling.

The majority decision held that state powers were confined to matters under the Federal Constitution’s Ninth Schedule and the Local Government Act.

The court said licensing decisions must be tied to premises conditions such as safety, sanitation and public nuisance, not general opposition to gambling activities.

It also noted that some operators had been operating at the same premises for decades.

The Federal Court is scheduled to hear Kedah’s application for leave to appeal on August 12.

Kedah’s dispute began after Sanusi announced in November 2021 that the state would stop issuing and renewing gambling outlet licences.

The decision was challenged by gambling and lottery operators, leading to a 2024 High Court ruling that the ban was unlawful, which was later upheld by the Court of Appeal in December 2025.