A stay of proceedings requires special circumstances; mere merits of an appeal are insufficient to justify delaying enforcement of a judgment.

JUDGMENT

(Stay)

Kenneth St James J:

Prelusion

[1] In this Originating Summons (this OS), the Plaintiff bank (P) obtained an order for sale against the Defendant borrower (D) over one of the properties charged to P as security (Property). Within this OS, there were multiple proceedings between the parties.

[2] This judgment is about one of D's applications for a stay of proceedings. The subject application is to "defer and stay" the auction of the Property and to "defer and stay" the enforcement of three orders made by this Court (orders relating to the auction), pending the determination of two of D's appeals to the Court Of Appeal against the decisions of the High Court (this Application).

[3] Should this Application be allowed ie the auction is deferred and stayed? Or should this Application be dismissed ie the auction is allowed to proceed?

Chronology Of Pertinent Facts And Proceedings

[4] To break down the relevant proceedings that led to this Application, I set out here a chronology of the facts and proceedings pertinent to this Application:

(1) December 1996 — D charged the Property (Geran Hakmilik 23040, Lot No 420, Mukim 03, Daerah Seberang Perai Selatan, Negeri Pulau Pinang) to P, as a security for a loan given to D.

(2) September 2010 — D (with other related parties) entered into a Global Settlement Agreement (GSA) to settle their banking debts due to P. The GSA provided that if the parties who entered into this settlement with P, including D, defaulted in making the scheduled repayments, P could declare it as an event of default, and proceed to enforce the securities given, including the charge over the Property.

(3) January 2018 — D (with the other parties) defaulted.

(4) November 2019 — P issued a Notice declaring an event of default.

(5) December 2019 — P issued a Notice to recall the outstanding loan from D.

(6) January 2020 — P issued a Notice Of Default With Respect To A Charge (known as a Form 16D Notice under the National Land Code 1965).

(7) May 2020 — P applied for an order for sale (to auction the Property and utilise the sale proceeds to satisfy D's outstanding banking debt).

(8) December 2021 (21 December 2021) — The Court granted the Order For Sale. D appealed against the Order For Sale to the Court Of Appeal.

(9) September 2022 (7 September 2022) — The Court Of Appeal dismissed D's appeal ie affirmed the Order For Sale. D did not appeal further.

(10) March 2023 — P filed an application for an order for directions: to set a reserve price and fix an auction date for the Property.

(11) December 2023 (5 December 2023) — The Court (the Registrar) granted the Order For Directions. The reserve price was set at RM5 million, and the auction date was fixed for 6 February 2024. D appealed to the Judge in chambers against the Registrar's Order For Directions.

(12) January 2024 (2 January 2024) — D filed an application to stay the enforcement of the Order For Directions ie to stop the auction fixed for 6 February 2024.

(13) February 2024 (2 February 2024) — The Registrar granted the stay of the Order For Directions ie the auction fixed for 6 February 2024 was cancelled.

(14) May 2024 — D filed an appeal to the Court Of Appeal in another suit: Civil Suit No: PA-22NCVC-30-02/2021 (Suit 30), which, according to D, is also related to the Property. From D's averments in its affidavit in support of this Application, I could glean that:

(i) in Suit 30, D was one of the plaintiffs who sued P as the defendant. In Suit 30, P filed against D an application under O 14A of the Rules Of 2012 to determine Suit 30 on a question of law or construction of document;

(ii) an order was made against D on the O 14A application that resulted in the dismissal of D's claim in Suit 30;

(iii) D appealed against that order. That appeal is Civil Appeal No: P-02(IM)(NCVC)-843-05/2024 (D's 1st Appeal to the CA).

(15) July 2024 (19 July 2024) — D was struck off the Register Of Companies.

(16) September 2024 (12 September 2024) — D's appeal to the Judge in