Subcontractor in 8 Conlay project obtains interim injunction against Grand Dynamic Builders

• Judicial Commissioner Liza Chan Sow Keng granted the inter-partes (both parties) interim injunction.
• She also ruled that if the arbitral proceedings have not been concluded prior to the expiry of the guarantee, the plaintiff, Syarikat Ong Yoke Lin Sdn Bhd, shall take steps to renew the guarantee, given that the guarantee shall be issued by Standard Chartered, which is the subcontractor’s financier.

KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): The High Court on Friday (May 12) granted an air conditioning subcontractor of the 8 Conlay project an injunction against Grand Dynamic Builders Sdn Bhd (GDBSB) to restrain the company or its directors or other officers from issuing a demand pursuant to a Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Bhd letter of guarantee dated March 8, 2021, until the final disposal of its arbitral proceedings.

Judicial Commissioner Liza Chan Sow Keng granted the inter-partes (both parties) interim injunction.

She also ruled that if the arbitral proceedings have not been concluded prior to the expiry of the guarantee, the plaintiff, Syarikat Ong Yoke Lin Sdn Bhd, shall take steps to renew the guarantee, given that the guarantee shall be issued by Standard Chartered, which is the subcontractor’s financier.

Chan also ordered GDBSB to pay costs of RM15,000 to Syarikat Ong Yoke Lin.

Syarikat Ong Yoke Lin was represented by Edward Kuruvilla and Nereen Kaur Veriah while GDBSB was represented by Allen Cheng & Sandhya Saravanan.

Kuruvilla confirmed Friday’s decision to The Edge.

Syarikat Ong Yoke Lin had entered into arbitral proceedings with GDSB, which is the main contractor of the 8 Conlay project, since Jan 3 this year at the Asian International Arbitration Centre.

Syarikat Ong Yoke Lin had obtained the ad-interim injunction (an injunction given pending an inter-partes hearing) on Jan 4, before the interim injunction was granted on Friday.

Syarikat Ong Yoke Lin had filed the lawsuit last December, where it claimed that it had previously provided a bank guarantee to secure its performance under the subcontract. It also sought the interim injunctions to restrain GDBSB from calling on the bank guarantee of the company pending the disposal of the originating summons.

In its supporting affidavit to the injunction application, Syarikat Ong Yoke Lin claimed that GDBSB is obliged to make payment of certified sums but had failed or refused or neglected to make such payments.

It also claimed that GDBSB without reasonable cause instructed Syarikat Ong Yoke Lin to suspend the subcontract works for over three months resulting in the company to purportedly sustain recurring costs of RM20.166 million in damages, which are increasing.

The plaintiff further claimed that GDBSB has failed or neglected to make payment of the certified sums and on Dec 19, it issued a notice of determination of the contract. However, GDBSB is disputing the plaintiff’s action.

Last month, it was reported that GDB Holdings Bhd said it would defend the wrongful termination of its subsidiary GDBSB from the 8 Conlay project. GDB claimed the purported determination to terminate is wrongful as the mandatory contractual procedures and notices prior to the determination have not been complied with.