JUDGMENT

(Enclosures 149 and 151)

Elaine Yap Chin Gaik JC:

[1] The Plaintiff's suit was struck out by Order of the Court on 3 October 2023 ("Order") due to non-compliance by the Plaintiff with pre-trial case management directions to file witness statements before 28 August 2023. The Order was made on day 2 of what would have been the trial of the suit. There was a procedural history before the Order that I do not need to go into.

[2] The Plaintiff applied vide encl 149 to set aside the Order dated 3 October 2023 and vide encl 151 to reinstate the suit. I dismissed both applications on 10 December 2024 based on a preliminary objection raised by the Defendant that the Court was functus officio to decide encls 149 and 151. The Plaintiff has appealed.

[3] The appeal raises a straightforward question of whether the proper mode of challenging the dismissal of an action for non-compliance with a pre-trial direction of the High Court is by way of an appeal to the Court of Appeal or by the mode undertaken by the Plaintiff in this case, and why. To my mind, this question has been answered by the Federal Court and it is premised on the principle that a Court becomes functus officio onc