THE Shah Alam High Court had on Wednesday (April 30) ruled on favour of Symphony Hills Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of UEM Sunrise Bhd.in a “class action” case where a group of six homebuyers claimed for late delivery of vacant possession.
In an oral decision delivered by Judicial Commissioner Justice Indra Nehru Savandiah, the Court concluded that it was bound by the Federal Court’s landmark decision in Obata-Ambak Holdings Sdn Bhd v Prema Bonanza Sdn Bhd & other appeals in July 2024.
The then landmark ruling held that the earlier Federal Court’s decision in Ang Ming Lee & Ors v Menteri Kesejahteraan Bandar, Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan & anor and other appeals would only apply prospectively.
The Symphony Hills case which began in 2021 revolved around allegations that the approval by the Controller of Housing in granting an extension of time to deliver vacant possession was invalid as the Federal Court in Ang Ming Lee found Regulation 11(3) of the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Regulations 1989 to be ultra vires of the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Act 1966.
The proceedings were initially stayed pending the determination of the Obata-Ambak case in the Federal Court.
After the decision of the Obata-Ambak case was delivered, the homebuyers and the developer filed two separate applications respectively for the proceedings to be determined based on questions of law.
The developer sought for the court to determine the following questions of law, among others:
- Whether the Federal Court’s decision in Obata-Ambak would apply;
- Whether the letter of approval granted by the Controller of Housing is valid;
- Whether the Federal Court’s decision in Ang Ming Lee applies prospectively; and
- Whether the Second Actor Theory applies to the developer who had relied and acted on the letter of approval granted by the Controller of Housing within the-then existing legal framework.
In delivering the decision, the Shah Alam High Court emphasised that it is bound by the decision of the Federal Court in Obata-Ambak.
The homebuyers’ application was dismissed with costs of RM10,000 while the developer’s application was allowed and the homebuyers’ claim for liquidated ascertained damages was dismissed with costs of RM20,000 to be paid jointly and severally by the homebuyers to the developer.
Nurin Ayuni Nazira acted for the group of homebuyers while Leonard Yeoh together with Caleb Sio and Chen Mei Yan of Tay & Partners acted for Symphony Hills Sdn Bhd.
At the close of today’s (May 2) mid-day trading, UEM-Sunrise was up 2 sen or 2.78% to 74 sen with 3.87 million shares traded, thus valuing the company at RM3.74 nil. – May 2, 2025
