Lawyers representing Che Minah Remeli, the landowner of the site of the 'Sky Kingdom' in Jerteh, Terengganu, are preparing a case against the authorities for demolishing a cluster of giant structures last Sunday.

A move is underway to file a committal proceeding (for alleged contempt of court) against the authorities.

The Besut land office, which ordered the demolition after revoking land ownership on July 31, had allegedly ignored a stay order granted by the Kuala Terengganu high court on June 21. ( See Table )

Che Minah, 60, is the first wife of Ayah Pin or Ariffin Mohammad, 65, the leader of an all-encompassing spiritual philosophy dubbed the 'Sky Kingdom'.

She had received a notice on April 28 from the land office giving her 30 days to demolish the structures - shaped like a teapot and boat among others - under section 128 of the National Land Code 1965 (NLC).

When she failed to do so, the land office sent her a show-cause letter on July 18, under section 129. This ordered her to appear before an inquiry panel on July 31 to explain why action should not be taken for non-compliance with the notice.

Her legal team head Haris Mohamed Ibrahim said: "We sent a letter on July 20 saying that the show-cause letter was in contempt of the high court order and that it should be withdrawn immediately," he said when contacted today.

"We gave them until July 23 to do so but we didn't hear from them at all. Suddenly, this (the demolition) took place (on July 31)."

He described the July 18 letter as "consequential to" the earlier demolition order which the high court had ordered to be stayed.

"The land office cannot now claim that the notice is pursuant to a new action because a stay order was already in force," he added.

Terengganu Menteri Besar Idris Jusoh was reported as saying yesterday that the Besut land office had not received a sealed copy of the stay order, as required by procedure.

Violations of land use

The land office acted after holding its scheduled inquiry on July 31 morning (a work day in Terengganu), based on the July 18 show-cause letter requiring Che Minah's presence at the hearing.

A letter was then issued immediately, signed by assistant land administrator Mohd Iskandar Muhammad Aziz, stating the decision to "temporarily revoke land ownership" under the NLC for "violations of land use".

This was in relation to the construction of the giant structures - built in stages since 1998 at a cost of several million ringgit - which was deemed inconsistent with the designated use of the land (for agriculture only).

In a copy of the letter obtained by malaysiakini , Mohd Iskandar said the inquiry had to be carried out ex-parte (in Che Minah's absence).

"After the investigation was concluded, I decided to order temporary takeover (of the land) under section 129(4)(c) of the NLC," he said.

Contacted today, the person who answered Mohd Iskandar's phone refused to identify himself and claimed Mohd Iskandar was at Ayah Pin's commune overseeing the completion of the demolition exercise, and asked malaysiakini to call back tonight.

Letter at the door

The July 31 letter had been hand-delivered to a resident of the commune in Kampung Batu 13, Hulu Besut, just minutes before the demolition began.

Contacted yesterday, one of Che Minah's neighbours in the commune claimed the letter had been 'served' on him as she was not around.

Che Man, as he wanted to be known, said an officer from the land office had come looking for Che Minah to sign a document.

"When he could not find her, he went looking for her daughter but I advised the children not to sign anything," Che Man said.

"I told them it was a legal matter and that only Che Minah had the authority to handle the matter as she is the rightful landowner."

The officer then asked him to take the letter but he, too, refused to do so.

"So, he just placed it at my door and took some photos. Then he issued the order for the demolition to begin," he added.

In her June 5 affidavit seeking to quash the demolition notice, Che Minah had claimed that repeated attempts to convert land use from agriculture to building had been rejected despite the state government's approval in principle five years ago.