The Court of Appeal in Putrajaya has ordered the Kuantan High Court to rehear an application by logging company Seruan Gemilang Makmur Sdn Bhd for leave to initiate a judicial review to compel the Pahang state financial officer to pay RM70 million, a judgment sum obtained by the company against the Pahang government for breach of contract.

A three-member panel led by Justice Aziah Ali today also ordered that the company’s application for extension of time to file its leave for judicial review be remitted to the High Court to be re-heard.

Both application would be re-heard on an inter-parte basis.

The panel, also comprising Justices Mohtarudin Baki and High Court judge Mohd Zawawi Salleh, allowed the appeal brought by the Pahang state financial officer to set aside the Kuantan High Court’s Nov 23 2010 decision in granting Seruan Gemilang leave to file a judicial review application as well as the company’s ex-parte application for extension of time to file its leave for judicial review application.

“In our view, the High Court judge ought to have given the Pahang state financial officer the opportunity to appear and present his case against Seruan Gemilang in the company’s application for extension of time to file leave for judicial review considering the circumstance that there was an ordinate delay,” said Aziah.

The Pahang state financial officer appealed against the High Court’s decision on grounds that Seruan Gemilang did not give him notice of the application for extension of time to file the leave for judicial review application.

Therefore, the state financial officer claimed that he was unable to appear and oppose the application for extension of time to file the leave for judicial review which was delayed three years.

Under Order 53 Rule 6 of the Rules of the High Court 1980, a leave to file a judicial review application must be made promptly and in any event within 40 days from the date when the grounds of the application first arose or when the decision was first communicated to the applicant.

On Sept 17, 2008, the Federal Court ruled in favour of Seruan Gemilang and ordered the Pahang government and state forestry director to pay the company RM37,127,471.60, with eight percent interest per annum from Dec 31, 2000 for breaching of a logging contract.

The amount has since increased to about RM70 million including interest.

Seruan Gemilang then obtained a mandamus order from the Kuantan High Court to compel the Pahang Menteri Besar to settle the amount after its attempt to demand for the judgment sum with interest was unsuccessful.

Appeal to set aside mandamus order

On Oct 9 2009, the menteri besar, however, succeeded in his appeal at the Court of Appeal to set aside the mandamus order which ruled that Seruan Gemilang had wrongly named the menteri besar as respondent in the judicial review proceeding at the High Court to demand for the judgment sum from the state government.

Instead, it (the Court of Appeal) ruled that the state financial officer should be named as the party in the judicial review application.

Seruan Gemilang’s application for leave to appeal against that decision to the Federal Court was also dismissed.

The company then filed a fresh a leave for judicial review application on Oct 20, 2010, naming the Pahang state financial officer as respondent.

The Kuantan High Court on Nov 23, 2010 granted Seruan Gemilang leave for judicial review as well as the company’s application for extension of time to file judicial review.

- Bernama