Kota Kinabalu: The High Court on Wednesday struck out an application for judicial review by Grant Thornton against the Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, and the Sabah Government.
Grant Thornton, the receiver and manager for financially defunct Sabah Forest Industries Sdn Bhd (SFI), alleged that the Chief Minister and the Sabah Government had acted in bad faith (mala fide) when the latter acquired some 15 parcels of land, previously owned by SFI.
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In her ruling, High Court Judge Maslinda @ Linda Mohd Ainal allowed the Chief Minister’s preliminary objection that Grant Thornton had failed to name the Governor of the State of Sabah (TYT) as a respondent.
‘Under the Sabah Land Acquisition Ordinance, it is the TYT (acting on advice) that determines whether land should be acquired for public purposes. Therefore, because the Land Acquisition Ordinance stipulates the TYT as the ultimate decision maker, it is a requirement that the TYT be named as a respondent to the judicial review proceedings.
Failure to name the TYT as a respondent is fatal and renders the judicial review application liable to be struck out,” said Tengku Datuk Fuad Tengku Ahmad, one of the counsel for the Chief Minister and the Sabah Government.
The 15 parcels of land, comprising some 13,000 hectares of industrial and Acacia Mangium plantation land, were acquired by the Sabah Government in 2021 and 2022 under the “Sustainable Forest Timber Utilisation, Processing, Management, Conservation Research and Development, District of Sipitang” public purpose scheme.
SFI ceased operations in 2016 and was wound-up on Nov 15, 2021 for being unable to pay its debts.
The Court of Appeal has since upheld the legality of SFI being wound-up.
“Now that the High Court has ruled decisively, it is time for the Sabah Government to move ahead with the implementation of the ‘Sustainable Forest Timber Utilisation, Processing, Management, Conservation Research and Development, District of Sipitang’ scheme so that the economy of Sipitang can be revived through the targeted development and investment in the district’s timber industry,” said Tengku Fuad.
Tengku Datuk Fuad Tengku Ahmad and Dato’ Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin appeared for the Chief Minister and the Sabah Government, while AG Kalidas, Jeyan Marimuthu, S. Vanugopal and Jane Marimuthu appeared for Grant Thronton and SFI (Receiver’s and Managers Appointed).
