Federal Court dismisses Semantan Estate bid over Duta Enclave land

The Star

Semantan Estate Sdn Bhd has failed in its final attempt to overturn a Court of Appeal ruling that the 106.54 hectare Duta Enclave belongs to the government.  On Thursday (Nov 13), the Federal Court dismissed the company’s leave application to appeal the Court of Appeal decision.  It said the application did not meet the threshold under Sections 96A and 96B of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964.  Read more at https://tinyurl.com/53t8vcmp  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00The federal court on Thursday dismissed Semantan Estate Sandirian Berhad's or SESB final appeal

00:08to claim ownership of the 106.54 hectare Duta enclave, affirming the land belongs to the

00:15government. A three-judge panel led by Chief Judge of Malaya, Justice Hasna Mohamed Hashim

00:21ruled the application failed to meet the threshold under Sections 96A and 96B of the Courts of

00:29Judicature Act, 1964, stating it was fact-centric and raised no constitutional questions of general

00:35importance. Justice Hasna clarified that the 2009 High Court Order at the Dispute Center

00:41only recognized SESB's beneficial interest and right to possession against the government,

00:48but did not confer any registrable title under the National Land Code, 1965. She said the

00:55declaration was confined to recognizing a beneficial interest and a corresponding right

01:00to possession, and that it did not confer any registrable interest. The court, in a supporting

01:06judgment, agreed the 2009 declaration was purely declaratory, recognizing only equitable entitlement

01:14without transferring or registering land ownership to SESB. The federal court ordered the case remitted

01:21to the High Court for compensation assessment to SESB, following the Court of Appeals direction,

01:27with no order on costs. On June 24, the Court of Appeals had set aside an earlier High Court

01:34ruling, ordering transfer of the Duta enclave title to SESB, holding that the 2009 decision contained

01:42no such transfer order. The court confirmed government ownership and directed compensation

01:48for SESB, noting the land had been under compulsory acquisition since 1956. The disputed land now houses

01:58several government facilities including the Inland Revenue Board Complex, National Hockey Stadium,

02:04Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia, and Federal Territory Mosque.

02:08SESB had filed 26 questions of law-seeking federal court appeal, all of which were dismissed.

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