KUALA LUMPUR – The Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur Land Registrar has filed a stay-of-execution pending an appeal against the high court’s ruling that the government is in unlawful possession of 273ac of prime land in Jalan Duta.
According to a report by The Edge, the Kuala Lumpur High Court is set to hear the application on September 12.
The land registrar’s challenge against the high court’s decision was filed at the Court of Appeal on August 8, a day after the lower court’s ruling on the suit by Semantan Estate (1952) Sdn Bhd against Putrajaya for illegally possessing the land.
Semantan Estate filed a suit in 2003 on grounds that the federal government failed to follow procedure when it acquired 263ac of land in Jalan Duta in a bid to develop a diplomatic enclave in the 1950s.
In 2009, judge Zura Yahya delivered her judgment that the government did not take the land lawfully and remained in wrongful possession.
This decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court in challenges brought by the government, but Semantan Estate has contended that the government has failed to comply with the ruling.
In 2017, Semantan Estate filed another action at the Kuala Lumpur High Court to enforce Zura’s judgment .
On August 7 this year, high court judge Datuk Ahmad Shahrir Mohd Salleh ruled in Semantan Estate’s favour, ordering the government to return possession of the land.
The decision was deemed a matter of national interest as the land in question now houses several public buildings such as the Tun Razak Hockey Stadium, the Malaysian Institute of Integrity, the National Archives, the Kuala Lumpur shariah courts, the government complex building along Jalan Duta (the Inland Revenue Board building) and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Academy.
The ruling also caught the attention of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who noted that the high court’s decision would set a precedent for similar land dispute cases.
Anwar said he would propose to the cabinet a review of existing legislation to prevent similar issues in the future. – August 19, 2024