Dhaya Maju fails to get court order over KVDT2 project
Dhaya Maju LTAT Sdn Bhd has failed to obtain a court order to prevent the government and another from instructing the company to stop work on the site of the contentious Klang Valley Double Tracking (KVDT2) rail project.
The High Court in Kuala Lumpur this morning dismissed the contractor’s injunction application against the government and Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB).
The injunction application is set against the background of Dhaya Maju’s three main legal actions against the government’s decision to...
Dhaya Maju LTAT Sdn Bhd has failed to obtain a court order to prevent the government and another from instructing the company to stop work on the site of the contentious Klang Valley Double Tracking (KVDT2) rail project.
The High Court in Kuala Lumpur this morning dismissed the contractor’s injunction application against the government and Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB).
The injunction application is set against the background of Dhaya Maju’s three main legal actions against the government’s decision to terminate the company’s contract over the project. Today was set for the court decision on that injunction bid.
Today’s injunction bid is specifically linked to Dhaya Maju’s suit seeking to challenge the validity of a purported government letter dated Sept 23 last year that confirmed the decision to terminate the company’s contract on KVDT2.
Senior federal counsel Asliza Ali confirmed that judge Lim Chong Fong allowed Dhaya Maju’s application during online proceedings conducted via Zoom today.
Asliza acts for the transport minister and the government, who are two of the four defendants in the lawsuit. The other defendants are KTMB and engineering consultancy firm Opus Consultants (M) Sdn Bhd.
Asliza confirmed that the court granted Dhaya Maju’s application for Erinford injunction, to last until June 24, pending the company’s appeal to the Court of Appeal against today’s decision.
Under the law, an Erinford injunction is an order that a court is empowered to grant to maintain the status quo between parties in a legal action, pending the disposal of one of the parties’ related appeals.
Asliza added that the suit is fixed for further case management on June 8.
Besides the suit over the termination letter, another of the three legal actions involve a judicial review seeking to nullify the transport minister’s decision to cancel the KVDT2 contract and to reopen the tender.
In August 2020, Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong announced that the government would reopen the tender for the KVDT2 rail project, claiming that investigations found the RM4.475 billion price tag for the project was too high, despite cost-cutting measures made by the previous Pakatan Harapan administration.
The project came under the spotlight after Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz revealed details of the 101 contracts that were purportedly awarded through a direct negotiation process during the time Pakatan Harapan was in power.
KVDT2 is the largest contract, in terms of value, on the list.
In relation to Dhaya Maju’s suit over the purported termination letter, the company is seeking, among others, a declaration that the purported termination of the contract, via the Sept 23 letter, amounted to a breach of contract and was unlawful.
The plaintiff seeks a declaration that the purported termination of the contract via the letter, without providing 30 days' notice, was invalid, unlawful and wrong in law.
Dhaya Maju is seeking a declaration that the contract is binding and continues to be binding on the government, which is the first defendant, among others.
Dhaya Maju fails to get court order over KVDT2 project
'An uphill battle'
Meanwhile in a statement today, Dhaya Maju emphasised that there is already an existing court stay order that prevents the government from calling new tenders for the KVDT2 project.
The company noted that the stay order was issued previously in relation to one of its three main legal actions linked to the project, namely the judicial review.
"With the stay order intact arising from the judicial review proceedings, the status quo is maintained - the government cannot call for new tenders of the KVDT2 project. We believe that any call for tenders would be in breach of the stay order and more crucially, amounts to an act of contempt of court.
"We know that this may be an uphill battle, but we strongly believe in our right to defend the sanctity of the contract the government has entered into with DM-LTAT (Dhaya Maju) for the KVDT2 project," the company said.
"To this end and for the benefit of the public, we would like to inform that we are negotiating a settlement agreement to allow DM-LTAT to continue with the KVDT2 project, and are currently waiting for the government's decision, which we believe is forthcoming in the near future," the company said.
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