Court strikes out Felda's suit against lawyer

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court today allowed an application by a defendant to strike out a suit filed by the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) and its subsidiary company against him and 20 others to obtain an order to cancel immediately all instruments of land ownership transfer in Jalan Semarak.

Judge Wong Chee Lin allowed Yeap Kong Yeow’s application as the 13th defendant after hearing submissions from lawyer Wong Hok Mun representing the defendant and lawyer Kumar Kanagasingam who acted on behalf of Felda and Felda Investment Corporation Sdn Bhd (FIC).

‘’The court allowed the application to strike out the suit by the defendant and ordered RM5,000 to be paid in cost,’’ said Judge Wong.

Kumar, when met by reporters said, Yeap, who was also a lawyer, filed the application on the premise Yeap was no longer a partner in the legal firm Yeap Yong & Amy before the suit was filed.

He said the court fixed Nov 18 for case management.

However, the names of the 20 other defendants were maintained in the suit which was filed by Felda and FIC as plaintiffs.

Among those named as defendants were former Felda general manager Datuk Faizoull Ahmad; former FIC chief executive officer Mohd Zaid Abdul Jalil; Synergy Promenade Sdn Bhd (SPSB) directors Abd Rahman Soltan and Noraini Soltan; SPSB and Synergy Promenade KLVC Sdn Bhd (SPKLVC) ; former Felda general manager Datuk Hanapi Suhada; former Felda general manager Datuk Ab Ghani Mohd Ali; former Felda Land director Shahrizal Mohd Saleh and Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory Lands and Mines director.

In the writ of summons and statement of claim, Felda applied for an order to direct the Federal Territories Lands and Mines director to immediately cancel all instruments of land ownership transfer in Jalan Semarak from the agency to SPSB and SPKLVC in 30 days of the date of the order.

The plaintiff also sought for a declaration that the FIC Letter of Award, Felda Letter of Award, Development Agreement, Power of Attorney, Lease Agreement, four lease purchase agreements and Memorandum of Understanding could not be enforced, were null and void and invalid.

In the suit, Felda and FIC demanded damages and compensations against all the defendants for violation of fiduciary obligations incurred against Felda, namely, damages of RM1.062 billion for the commercial value of the Semarak land which could be received directly from the sale of the land in question.

They also applied, among others, compensation in equity for loss of commercial opportunity amounting to RM562 million if Felda received ‘’MGR’’ amounting to RM500 million from the development agreement.

They also applied for compensation in equity on all costs and expenditure which would be incurred to demolish the structure built by SPSB and to return the land to its original state.

The two plaintiffs also sought a RM1.5 billion compensation for the overall rental liability under the Rental Agreement if it was not set aside, compensation of RM2.062 billion other than seeking a compensation for the commercial value of 17 lots of land which were purportedly sold under the four sales and purchase agreements, and costs.

-- BERNAMA