KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 9): Former Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Samad has filed an application to disqualify the law firm of Messrs Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill (LHAG) from representing Felda and its subsidiary Felda Investment Corporation Sdn Bhd (FIC) in its RM2 billion suit against him and 28 others, in relation to the KL Vertical City (KLVC) project.
Shahrir filed the application on Jan 3. He later filed another application on Wednesday (Jan 8) for a stay of the hearing of the main suit, until the court decides and disposes of Shahrir’s application to disqualify the law firm.
His counsel, Datuk Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin, informed Judicial Commissioner (JC) Eddie Yeo Soon Chye that their application should be heard first and for the hearing to not be started yet, as the outcome of their application is vital in the interest of justice.
“If the trial begins and the evidence is taken, and in the event this court rules in our favour, all the evidence that had been taken would have been expunged because LHAG could be disqualified,” Firoz Hussein said.
Yeo had initially fixed Thursday and Friday, along with Jan 20 to Jan 23, as hearing dates for the suit.
Shahrir in his application said he is seeking to disqualify Messrs Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill, as he intends to subpoena Datuk Aznam Mansor, about the development and renegotiation of the June 2, 2014, development agreement pursuant to Memorandum of Understanding on Jan 15, 2018, that had led Felda to replace its previous legal counsels from Messrs Zul Rafique & Partners with LHAG.
The former Felda chairman said that Aznam, whom he intends to call as a witness, is a founding and senior partner of LHAG, and hence, the law firm must be recused from continuing to act for Felda and Felda Investment Corporation to avoid any conflict of interests.
Yeo indicated that he was not inclined to postpone the hearing dates or make a ruling, as the dates had been agreed upon earlier. The JC then asked the other defendants in the suit whether they agreed that Shahrir’s application should be heard first.
Kumar Kanagasingam and Mong Chung Seng, appearing for the plaintiffs, Felda and FIC, told Yeo that that they were prepared to proceed with the trial and that the application from Shahrir should be heard later.
After a short recess and all the defendants agreed that Shahrir’s application should be heard first, Yeo agreed to vacate the hearing dates for Thursday and until Jan 23.
“Injustice ought to be avoided, as the trial dates had already been fixed. However, the court is mindful that the interests of justice are best served and free from encumbrances and free of any interlocutory applications.
“The notice of application [by Shahrir] for a stay is to be dealt with expeditiously,” the JC said.
Following that, the court directed the registrar to fix a date to hear Shahrir’s disqualification application.
The court was full to the brim on Thursday, with more than 50 lawyers and the defendants’ presence, as required by the court during the trial. Besides Shahrir, other former Felda directors and former directors-general were named as defendants.
The suit was initially to be heard before then-High Court judge Datuk Azimah Omar, but Azimah was elevated to the Court of Appeal and hence the matter moved to Yeo.
Felda and FIC initiated the RM2 billion lawsuit in November 2019, when it named 21 individuals and entities as defendants, including the two Synergy Promenade companies, as well as Shahrir and another former chairman, Tan Sri Mohd Isa Samad, over the KLVC project.
Synergy Promenade Sdn Bhd and Synergy Promenade KLVC Sdn Bhd, along with its directors Abd Rahman Soltan and Datuk Noraini Soltan who are defendants in the suit, were represented by Amrit Pal and RK Sharma, also indicated they supported Shahrir’s application.
Felda and FIC claimed these parties had jointly conspired to “the plundering” of Felda and FIC through unlawful means and purpose, resulting in the injuring of, and a loss to, both Felda and FIC. This, they claimed, happened when Datuk Seri Najib Razak was the prime minister.
Besides this suit, Shahrir and some of the defendants had filed a counterclaim to the suit.
Prior to this, it was reported that all suits related to the matter were to be consolidated.
It was also reported last August that Yeo had allowed a discovery application by Felda and FIC for the Fact-based Investigation on the Development of Kuala Lumpur Vertical City (KLVC), Final Report and the Salihan report to be revealed to Felda and FIC.
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Source: EdgeProp.my
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