It is the end of the road for Semantan Estate Sdn Bhd in its legal battle to reclaim a 106-hectare parcel of land in Kuala Lumpur known as the Duta Enclave which the government took possession of nearly 70 years ago.
The Federal Court today dismissed the company’s application for leave to appeal the Court of Appeal’s June 25 decision ordering the government only to pay compensation for the property.
In that decision, Justice Lee Swee Seng, now a Federal Court judge, allowed the government’s appeal and ruled that monetary compensation was a more appropriate remedy than requiring the authorities to transfer ownership and possession of the land to Semantan Estate.
A three-member bench chaired by Chief Judge of Malaya Hasnah Hashim today said that the 26 legal questions posed by Semantan Estate did not meet the threshold set under Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964.
“We are also of the considered view that the application is fact-centric and did not raise any question of constitutional importance,” she said in the unanimous ruling.
Under Section 96, leave is granted only when a case raises novel constitutional or legal questions of public importance for the first time.
Federal Court judge Hanipah Farikullah and co-opted Court of Appeal judge Ruzima Ghaz were also on the bench that heard the application.
MORE TO COME
