Govt in active talks for amicable solutions over Duta enclave dispute with Semantan Estate

• Negotiations have been ongoing and “actively progressing”, senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan told a three-member Court of Appeal bench led by judge Datuk Lee Swee Seng, following a court order last month to transfer the land to the liquidators of Semantan Estate (1952) Sdn Bhd.

PUTRAJAYA (Sept 19): The government is actively negotiating for an amicable solution over the ‘Duta enclave’ conundrum, the court heard on Thursday.

Negotiations have been ongoing and “actively progressing”, senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan told a three-member Court of Appeal bench led by judge Datuk Lee Swee Seng, following a court order last month to transfer the land to the liquidators of Semantan Estate (1952) Sdn Bhd.

Shamsul also gave an undertaking on behalf of the federal government that the negotiations would not hamper the possible hearing date of the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur Land Registrar’s appeal against last month’s High Court decision and Semantan Estate’s 2021 appeal to compel the government to surrender the said land.

Lee, who sat with Court of Appeal judge Datuk Azimah Omar and High Court judge Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, said the bench was glad to see there was a roadmap ahead for the massive case.

He also thanked the government and counsel for Semantan Estate led by Datuk Dr Cyrus Das along with Ira Biswas and Janet Chai Pei Ying.

On Sept 12, the Land Registrar secured a stay from the High Court from registering a 263.27-acre plot of land in Mukim Batu to the liquidator of Semantan Estate.

The Federal Court had in 2012 upheld that the sprawling land — home to a number of government complexes, sports facilities as well as a few other familiar landmarks — belongs to Semantan Estate and the government had taken unlawful possession of and trespassed on the land.

Besides the National Archives and major roads leading from Jalan Duta to Segambut, there are 13 other government buildings including the Examination Syndicate, Education Department, Institut Integriti Malaysia, Inland Revenue Board, and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Academy.

The Jalan Duta Sports Complex — comprising the National Tennis Centre, Squash Centre, and Tun Razak Hockey stadium — also sits on the land which had been acquired since 1956.

The bench recorded that the government was having active negotiations with the appellant for an amicable solution to the issue that have since arisen, and that the negotiations would not disrupt the possible hearing of the two appeals to be heard together should there be no settlement.

Initially, Lee and the bench were hesitant to grant an adjournment over the hearing of Semantan Estate’s appeal as the case stretched over the years.

Semantan Estate is appealing High Court judge Datuk Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid’s decision made in October 2021 over not granting a mandamus over the transfer of the land and the said buildings on it.

Since then, negotiations have been done between both sides since October 2023 where the government sought an adjournment to the hearing of Semantan’s appeal.

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