Kota Kinabalu: The Court of Appeal on Wednesday allowed the appeal by Sabah Forest Industries Sdn Bhd’s (SFI) receiver and manager, Grant Thornton Sdn Bhd, against the 2022 High Court decision which struck out its judicial review application.
A three-member panel comprising Justices Datuk Azhahari Kamal, Datuk Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid and Ong Chee Kwan ruled that the receiver and manager, acting as an agent for SFI, could bring judicial review proceedings against the cancellation of SFI’s timber licence agreements.
SFIs’ timber licences agreement were cancelled by the Chief Minister in 2021 on public interest grounds.
The appellate court ordered that SFI’s judicial review be remitted to the High Court for hearing.
It is understood that an application for leave to appeal to the Federal Court will be filed by the Sabah Government.
Appearing for SFI were counsel AG Kalidas, Vanessa Maria Marimuttu, Jeyan Marimuttu and Sukumaran Vanugopal, while counsel Datuk Firoz Hussein and Tengku Datuk Ahmad Fuad appeared for the Chief Minister.
On Nov 16, 2022, the High Court here struck out SFI’s judicial review application against the Chief Minister and the State Government over the cancellation of its timber licence agreements (TLAs) following the shutdown of SFI’s pulp and paper mill in November 2016.
The application was filed by SFI’s Receiver and Manager Grant Thornton.
