TNB fined RM100,000 for contempt of court

The High Court has fined Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) RM100,000 for contempt of court on Thursday.

Judicial Commissioner M. Gunalan also found TNB's surveyor, Ahmad Rustami Ramley, guilty of the offence, and issued him with a stern warning.

Gunalan made the decision after hearing submissions by lawyer Thomas Philip, representing Bukit Lenang Development Sdn Bhd director Zaharey Jusoh, and the counsel for TNB and Ahmad Rustami.

TNB was represented by lawyers Steven Thiru, Gurmel Singh and Gregory Das, while lawyers Gopal Sreenevasan and Leong Phaik Leng represented Ahmad Rustami.

Gunalan ordered TNB to pay the fine within 14 days.

Last April 10, TNB and Rustami had been found guilty of contempt for suppressing evidence during a trial of a summons case involving a disputed squatter land which was filed by Bukit Lenang Development Sdn Bhd.

Yesterday was fixed for mitigation prior to sentencing.

The suit was filed by Zaharey Jusoh in 2003 against 300 squatter residents for allegedly trespassing into the company's land at Kampung Plentong here.

The company also sued TNB, Telekom Malaysia Bhd and Syarikat Air Johor (SAJ) Holdings Sdn Bhd for trespassing into the land and providing basic amenities to the squatter residents there.

Telekom and SAJ had settled the case in an out-of-court settlement, but TNB, through Ahmad Rustami, denied having conducted survey work on the land prior to the electric poles being erected there.

However, the plaintiff produced a copy of the survey work carried out by Ahmad Rustami for TNB, which was required before the electric poles could be erected, to the court.