KUALA LUMPUR – The government has succeeded in its appeal to set aside an order compelling it to transfer 263.272 acres (106.542 hectares) of land in Mukim Batu to Semantan Estate Sdn Bhd (SESB).
A three-member Court of Appeal panel chaired by Datuk Lee Swee Seng delivered the unanimous decision today, and ordered the company to be compensated.
The amount will be assessed by the high court within 90 days, with assistance from expert valuers.
The panel also dismissed SESB’s cross-appeal seeking the transfer of the land to the company, according to reports.
On August 8 last year, the high court had allowed SESB’s originating summons for the land to be transferred to the company under Section 417 of the National Land Code 1965.
The disputed land, located in the strategic Jalan Duta area, currently houses, among others, the Inland Revenue Board Complex, several government buildings, the National Hockey Stadium, the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia, and the Federal Territory Mosque.
High court judge Datuk Ahmad Shahrir Mohd Salleh had allowed SESB’s summons and rejected the government’s bid to postpone proceedings pending a proposed settlement over the dispute.
The court had ordered the Federal Territories Land Registrar to register SESB as the landowner, execute all transfer instruments, and issue a title in the company’s name free from encumbrances or liabilities.
However, on September 12 the same year, the government succeeded in obtaining a stay of the decision, pending disposal of its appeal at the Court of Appeal.
The court at the time ruled that special circumstances existed to justify granting the stay.
The Semantan Estate legal battle dates back to 2003, when the company sued the government, alleging that the land had been unlawfully acquired.
In 2009, Judicial Commissioner Zura Yahya ruled that the government had indeed unlawfully acquired the land. The government’s subsequent appeals to the Court of Appeal and Federal Court were dismissed.
In February 2017, Semantan Estate filed a suit against the Kuala Lumpur Land Registrar to enforce the 2009 high court ruling. – June 24, 2025