KUALA LUMPUR (July 21): After a year-long arduous legal battle, Sime Darby Plantation Bhd (SDP) has managed to retain ownership of its 75ha land in Merlimau from being compulsory acquired by Taiwan-controlled company GI A Resources Sdn Bhd, which claimed it was acting in the interest of former Yang di-Pertuan Agong cum current Sultan of Kelantan Sultan Muhammad V, for a below-market-value price of RM35.282 million.

In a statement today, SDP said it had reached an "amicable settlement" with the parties involved in relation to the judicial review application made by SDP against the director of Melaka’s Lands and Mines Department, Jasin district land administrator, Melaka state government and GI A Resources.

Following the settlement, SDP said the parties today recorded a consent order in the High Court, which entailed the withdrawal of the compulsory acquisition order by the director, land administrator and state government.

The consent order also requires GI A Resources to file a notice of discontinuance to halt its appeal in the Court of Appeal within five working days from the notice. 

"The settlement is considered complete upon the withdrawal of the compulsory acquisition of the land and the full execution of each and every settlement term as contained in the consent order," SDP said. 

"With this consent order, SDP is pleased to announce that its application for a judicial review has come to an end and the said land remains a property of SDP," it added. 

Last year on April 30, The Edge Financial Daily broke the news that SDP had filed the judicial review application.

SDP head of land management Mohd Razlan Mohd Rahim, in his affidavit to support the legal challenge, claimed that GI A Resources had failed to clearly state the purpose of the acquisition, which he said was an anomaly under the Land Acquisition Act 1960.

He noted that GI A Resources only said the land would be used for a proposed “Bandar Pendidikan Bestari” mixed development. 

Mohd Razlan also claimed GI A Resources had provided a letter dated Dec 12, 2018 to SDP in support of the acquisition by claiming that the deal was discussed in a meeting with Yayasan Sultan Muhammad Ke-5, and that the King then had wanted the said land.

Prior to that, GI A Resources, he claimed, had furnished a letter dated April 4 last year to the Melaka government, purportedly bearing Istana Negara’s letterhead that was signed by the Royal Comptroller, in support of the acquisition.

If the documents were real, then there would have been a violation of Article 74 of the Federal Constitution as Istana Negara, a federal institution, would have been used to interfere in state affairs, namely the compulsory land acquisition, Mohd Razlan said.

SDP, which is majority-owned by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), also argued that the transaction was against public interest.

Moreover, this transaction involved compulsorily acquiring a government-linked company’s asset for the interest of a foreign-owned company, Mohd Razlan added.