{"id":777046449,"date":"2026-08-20T09:42:52","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T12:42:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777046449"},"modified":"2026-08-20T10:18:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T13:18:33","slug":"kedah-weighs-legal-options-on-zero-gambling-policy-after-court-rejects-licence-appeal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/kedah-weighs-legal-options-on-zero-gambling-policy-after-court-rejects-licence-appeal","title":{"rendered":"Kedah weighs legal options on zero-gambling policy after court rejects licence appeal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The state says its position on gambling is based on religious principles rather than ethnicity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Malaysia.- The Northern Malaysian state of Kedah<\/strong> is seeking legal advice on whether it can do anything to maintain its zero-gambling policy. The update comes after the Federal Court rejected the state government\u2019s attempt to challenge a ruling against its decision not to issue more gambling licences<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor<\/strong> said the state had not determined its next move. Utusan Malaysia quoted him as saying: \u201cThe lawyers will explain what the implications are, what is binding on us, and what we can and cannot do. There may still be another way. God willing, there is a way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Court of Appeal upheld an Alor Setar High Court ruling<\/a> that found Kedah\u2019s directive to stop issuing licences for gambling premises to be ultra vires, meaning it exceeded the state government\u2019s legal powers, and was inconsistent with the Federal Constitution. Sanusi stressed that the state would respect the judgment. He said: \u201cHow can anyone refuse to comply with a court order? That could amount to contempt of court. We cannot do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the state has yet to confirm whether new gambling-premises licences will be issued. He added: \u201cIf no one wants to gamble, there is no need to open them. If there is no demand, naturally there will be no supply.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chief minister defended the zero-gambling position against claims that it discriminates against non-Muslims. He stated: \u201cWe are not denying anyone\u2019s rights. But if something is sinful, God commands us to prevent it,\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The state says its position on gambling is based on religious principles rather than ethnicity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2395,"featured_media":777042540,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The Malaysian state of Kedah is seeking legal counsel to maintain its zero-gambling policy despite federal court rulings declaring its directive to halt new gambling licenses as ultra vires. This situation highlights a jurisdictional conflict between state religious principles and federal constitutional law regarding gambling regulation, creating significant uncertainty for industry stakeholders.","focusai_entities":"Kedah, Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor, Federal Court, Court of Appeal, Alor Setar High Court, Utusan Malaysia","focusai_location":"Malaysia, Kedah, Alor Setar","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (0.9), affiliate_publisher (0.7), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Kedah's Legal Strategy?","query":"What specific legal avenues or legislative changes might Kedah pursue to reconcile its zero-gambling policy with federal court rulings, and what are the potential constitutional implications for the broader Malaysian market?"},{"label":"Market Entry Impact?","query":"How does this ongoing jurisdictional dispute in Kedah influence the risk assessment and market entry strategies for prospective iGaming operators considering the broader Malaysian market, particularly regarding B2C licensing?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[154,16333],"tags":[229],"class_list":["post-777046449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legislation-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-gambling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777046449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2395"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777046449"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777046449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777046463,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777046449\/revisions\/777046463"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777042540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777046449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777046449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777046449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}