KUALA LUMPUR: The Federal Court's landmark decision on fraudulent land transfers
has been hailed as long overdue by the Real Estate and Housing Developers'
Association Malaysia (Rehda).
Its president Datuk Ng Seing Liong, in welcoming the decision, said: "Finally,
this has happened. This is definitely good news for many of us. We can now say
that we are protected."
He added that Redha, in many seminars over the years has openly expressed its
dissatisfaction over the decision by then Chief Justice Tun Eusoff Chin, in the
case of Adorna Properties Sdn Bhd vs Boonsom Boonyanit.
"That decision was a talking point in many seminars held over these years and
Rehda's stand on the issue has always been that Eusoff Chin's decision was
wrong."
Ng said that it was important to protect house-buyers, and also victims of
fraudulent cases.
"If you steal a bicycle, it's an offence. What's the difference when it comes to
stealing land? With yesterday's decision, land or property owners and even
individuals whose identities have been used without their knowledge, are now
protected by law."
He added that the decision was not only welcomed by Rehda but also many other
organisations who agreed that the decision in the Adorna Properties Sdn Bhd vs
Boonsom Boonyanit case was wrong.
The Federal Court yesterday overturned the highly-criticised judgement said to
have wreaked havoc on land transactions in the past nine years.
The ruling had apparently caused many landowners to lose their property to
forgers. The decision provides better protection for property-owners.
A five-member Federal Court, presided by Chief Justice Tun Zaki Azmi, ruled that
the title or interest of a person who is the registered owner of a property is
liable to be set aside if that title is acquired through fraudulent means.
"I am legally obligated to restate the law since the error committed in Adorna
properties is so obvious and blatant. It is a well-known fact that some
unscrupulous people have been taking advantage of this error by falsely
transferring titles to themselves.
"I hope that with this decision, the land authorities will be extra cautious
when registering transfers," said Zaki.
The Federal Court yesterday ruled in favour of plaintiff Tan Yin Hong's appeal,
and declared RHB's charges null and void. The court instead ordered RHB to
compensate Yin Hong RM75,000 in legal costs for the case that had been dragging
for the last 23 years.
The other judges were Court of Appeal President Tan Sri Alauddin Mohd Sheriff,
Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Arifin Zakaria, and Federal Court judges Datuk
Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin and Datuk James Foong Cheng Yuen.
In deciding the case, the Federal Court was tasked to revisit the controversial
judgement of 2000 in Adorna Properties vs Boonsom Boonyanit, where the then
Chief Justice Eusoff Chin had made the landmark ruling hat a person cannot get
back land after it has been sold to a third party, even if the title was forged.
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