April trial dates maintained by High Court for Semantan Estate’s damages from 1956

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 20): The High Court has maintained the April 3 and April 10 hearing dates for the court to determine the rightful compensation to be paid to Semantan Estate (1952) Sdn Bhd based on the 1956 land acquisition of the prime “Duta enclave” which the court had deemed the government as having trespassed.

This follows High Court judge Roslan Mat Nor having dismissed Semantan Estate’s application to seek further time and attempt to get an adjournment of the April trial dates, as the liquidated company indicated it needed time to consider the type of evidence to be adduced in the compensation proceedings and for it to submit a valuation report.

Earlier, Semantan Estate counsel Janet Chai Pei Ying, from Messrs Chooi & Company, had requested that the trial dates to be moved to September, as it needed three months to file the valuation report, and in anticipation of a rebuttal from the government.

However, senior federal counsel (SFC) Azza Azmi objected to the delay citing that the Court of Appeal had made the decision on June 24, last year, and Semantan Estate had also failed to obtain leave to appeal from the federal court, and that the matter should be resolved within 90 days as directed by the Court of Appeal order.

Azza also pointed out that the Malaysian government is required to pay interests until full payment, and delaying the matter further would result in the government having to pay higher sums.

The SFC indicated that the Malaysian government is ready to file the valuation report and adhere to the timeline set by the court, and noted that Semantan Estate had requested for six documents for preparation of the valuation report, of which four are actually public documents in the company’s hands.

Company does not have all the records

Chai responded that Semantan Estate, being a private entity, does not have access to all the records as compared with the government.

“The valuation exercise in this case concerns values as at 1956, and the documents in question that have to be located are from over 70 years ago. We are trying to look for those documents, and concurrently, we have written to the Attorney General’s Chambers as well.

“The court has to consider that the government may have all the documents and hence they are ready; whereas we as a private entity have to locate these documents,” Chai said, adding that they are seeking a three-month adjournment for more time.

Chai added that they require the survey plan to look at the access and infrastructure of the land as it was in 1956, as what is seen in Jalan Duta in present-day is not as it was in 1956, and hence Semantan Estate needed time to get the documents and prepare the valuation report.

Judge Roslan in his decision noted that the court had the discretion to grant adjournment in the interest of justice.

However, the judge noted that the issue here is whether it would result in injustice to Semantan Estate or the government, given the higher interest to be payable by the government.

In taking into account the history of this case, Roslan said that the court decided against granting an adjournment to the hearing date.

“The dates as fixed by the court are maintained, namely the filing of the report by Feb 11, and hearing dates on April 3 and April 10, while March 16 is for case management,” the judge said.

The Court of Appeal had ruled in June last year that Semantan Estate is not entitled to a return of the land and the buildings on it or the title.

This is despite an earlier decision by the court in 2009, that the government had trespassed on the land due to the improper compensation paid and further acquisition.

Despite further acquisition, the company was only paid RM1.32 million in 1956.

The present 263.27-acre land now consists of government buildings like the Inland Revenue Board’s headquarters, the National Archives, the National Hockey Stadium, the Examinations Syndicate, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Academy, and the Institute of Integrity Malaysia.

As a result, the appellate court ordered that a calculation of compensation be made based on the 1956 valuation, besides the on-going proceeding on mesne profit (revenue lost due occupation of the land).

The federal court had also dismissed Semantan Estate’s leave to appeal on Nov 13.

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