KUALA LUMPUR, June 15 — Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad and the government have filed an appeal against a High Court ruling that struck down the delisting of liquid nicotine as a scheduled poison.
On behalf of the health minister and government as the first and second respondents in the case respectively, the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) filed a notice of appeal to the Court of Appeal last Friday.
“Please take note that the respondents – the health minister and the Malaysian government – are dissatisfied with the decision by Justice Dato’ Aliza Sulaiman at the High Court in Malaya in Kuala Lumpur on 15 May 2026, and appeal to the Court of Appeal the entirety of the decision,” said the senior federal counsel in the June 12 notice.
The AGC also requested a copy of Justice Aliza’s written grounds of judgment to prepare its appeal.
Justice Aliza had favoured three non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in their judicial review application against the 2023 removal of liquid and gel nicotine used in e-cigarettes and vape from the Poisons List under the Poisons Act 1952 (Act 366).
The High Court ruled that the exemption order gazetted by then-Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa was “irrational” and that the delisting was done without proper or adequate consultation with the Poisons Board.
It’s unclear if retail sales of nicotine-containing e-liquids remain illegal, outside of supply by a pharmacist or doctor as a Group C poison, and cannot continue to be taxed as such, pending a decision by the Court of Appeal that could take years.
K. Shanmuga, a lawyer for the applicants, told CodeBlue that his firm has yet to be served an application for a stay of the High Court decision.
Various health groups previously urged Dzulkefly and the government not to appeal the High Court judgment, with anti-tobacco group MyWatch saying last Monday that the court decision has effectively provided the government an opportunity to correct a policy mistake.
Last Thursday, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay called for a total ban on e-cigarettes and vapes, after police detected a new synthetic drug called “Piu Piu” in vape liquids.
Dzulkefly’s decision to appeal the High Court ruling in the nicotine case marks a complete reversal of his previous stance last December to ban vape, claiming then that a full nationwide prohibition was a matter of “when, not if”.
The health minister – who apologised to the Dewan Negara in December 2023 for the exclusion of generational end game (GEG) provisions from the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill that was tabled by his predecessor in the Dewan Rakyat – also claimed in January that the Ministry of Health (MOH) was aiming to ban vape this year.
Ironically, last year, Dzulkefly was among three Malaysians who were awarded a World No Tobacco Day 2025 award from the World Health Organization (WHO). At the 79th World Health Assembly last month in Geneva, Switzerland, Dzulkefly promoted Malaysia’s efforts to protect lung health.
