Selangor govt remains not a party to 40-odd year land dispute

• "The contents of the letter do not refer to the respondent as the party responsible for finding replacement land," the court said.

PUTRAJAYA (Aug 5): The Selangor state government remains not a party to a land dispute of over 40 years, the Court of Appeal (COA) ruled on Tuesday.

A three-member panel led by COA judge Datuk Che Ruzima Ghazali ruled that the appeal brought by three disgruntled farmers to reinstate the state government, the Selangor menteri besar, and the Kuala Langat district land administrator into their main civil action, lacked merit and was obviously not sustainable.

The panel, which included COA judges Mohamed Zaini Mazlan and Shahnaz Sulaiman, ruled that a letter issued in April 1982—which was central to the appellants’ case—did not indicate that the state government or the district land administrator would shoulder the responsibility of finding replacement land of the 278 acres in Sungai Kelambu Brooklyn, Kuala Langat, acquired from a number of farmers for mining purposes.

The panel said that the letter, signed by then-Selangor menteri besar Datuk Hormat Rafei, merely conveyed the decision reached by investment holding company Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Bhd's (KPS) then-board of directors to find replacement land for those impacted.

"The contents of the letter do not refer to the respondent as the party responsible for finding replacement land," the court said.

Tan Kok Heong, 71, Tan Kok Cheng, 66, and Tan Kok Gea, 63, had filed a suit against the above mentioned respondents along with KPS in December 2022 for conspiracy to defraud.

Their legal action revolves around two parcels of land, at Brooklyn and Sungai Kelambu, in Kuala Langat, Selangor, that measures a total of 9.21 acres.

It is their case that due to representations made through the letter for replacement land, the plaintiffs had accepted the sum of RM43,310 and RM48,750 as compensation for the acquisition of the respective lots without further appeal or legal action.

They claim that initially, they were allowed to continue farming on the land before mining activity was to begin. However, around 2008, they were barred from entering the disputed space and later learned that the land was now registered under Goodcrest Development Sdn Bhd.

Tuesday's appeal is against then-Judicial Commissioner (JC) Choong Yeow Choy's decision in November last year, which had allowed the Selangor MB, the Selangor state government, and the Hulu Langat land administrator's application to be struck out from the legal action.

Choong, who was recently elevated to the High Court, had added that there was no promise made by the then-menteri besar to find a replacement land in the April 1982 letter. He said that the MB merely signed the letter in his capacity as the then-KPS chairman.

Choong had pointed out that the "promise" did not culminate in an agreement between the plaintiffs and the respondents. He also said that the plaintiffs could not rely on the doctrine of legitimate expectation in this case.

The trio's legal action against KPS remains, but no trial dates have been set thus far. It is also unclear if the matter will be heard before Choong.

Lawyers Cecilia Tan Shee Shia and Fatin Izyan Muhamad Fadzil appeared for the appellants, while Assistant State Legal Advisers Hani Aziza Ismail and Mary Phoon appeared for the respondents during Tuesday's proceedings.

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