Summary judgment granted to the Plaintiff for a debt acknowledged in a signed deed, rejecting the Defendant's duress claim as an afterthought.

Gan Techiong JC:

Introduction

[1] This is a straightforward matter wherein the Plaintiff's claim is based on a Deed of Acknowledgment of Debt which was signed by the Defendant to acknowledge a debt and to repay the Plaintiff by way of two instalments.

[2] I decided that this Court ought to allow the Plaintiff's application for summary judgment because I find no triable issue regarding the Plaintiff's claim against the Defendant.

Background Facts

[3] The Defendant signed a Deed of Acknowledgment of Debt dated 19 June 2023 wherein he promised to repay RM1,650,000.00 to the Plaintiff.

[4] In the said Deed of Acknowledgment of Debt, the Defendant is referred to as "the Borrower" while the Plaintiff is referred to as "the Lender". Therein, the Defendant acknowledges that the total sum owing to the Plaintiff is RM1,650,000.00 and undertakes to repay the Plaintiff by way of two instalments; RM100,000.00 forthwith and the balance RM1,550,000.00 within three years from the date of the execution of the said Deed.

The Plaintiff's Claim

[5] The Plaintiff commenced this civil suit and applied for summary judgment because the Defendant reneged on his promise to pay in accordance with the said Deed of Acknowledgement of Debt.

[6] In his supporting affidavit, the Plaintiff exhibited the said Deed of Acknowledgment of Debt to prove his claim. In a further affidavit affirmed by the Plaintiff on 15 November 2024, he exhibited two statutory declarations affirmed on 15 November 2024 by two common acquaintances, namely, Mohamed Azman bin Yahya and Syed and Hamid bin Syed Hussain Alhabshee, who attested the parties' signatures.

[7] In those two statutory declarations, the deponents affirmed having attested the signature of the Defendant in the said Deed of Acknowledgment of Debt on 19 June 2023, and that the Defendant signed voluntarily.

The Defendant's Defence

[8] In the Defendant's Defence, it was admitted that the Defendant did sign the said Deed of Acknowledgment of Debt. It was further pleaded pleaded that the Defendant did not receive RM1,650,000.00 from the Plaintiff. Those pleas are at para 4 of his Defence, as follows:

4. Perenggan 6 dan 6.1 SOC diakui hanya setakat Defendan menandatangani surat ikatan pengakuan hutang ("Surat Ikatan tersebut") tetapi menafikan dakwaan yang lain. Walauapapun, Defendan menafikan pernah menerima jumiah RM 1,650,000.00 atau sebarang jumlah daripada Plaintif dan Plaintif diletakkan atas beban pembuktian yang kukuh.

[9] In his affidavit to resist the Plaintiff's application for summary judgment, the Defendant averred that he stands by his Defence. He then went on to aver that he signed the said Deed of Acknowledgement of Debt under duress. Para 14 of his affidavit states as follows:

14. Perenggan 9 AIS Plaintif dinafikan kecuali saya telah melaksanakan surat ikatan pengakuan hutang tetapi ia telah dilaksanakan dalam keadaan yang menekan. Plaintif telah berhadapan dengan saya di khalayak ramai dengan cara yang bermusuhan apabila dia mengubah fikirannya bahawa wang yang dibayar kepada Compudyne akan dianggap sebagai wang yang terhutang oleh saya, walaupun pemahaman khusus pihak-pihak adalah bahawa wang itu akan digunakan untuk modal kerja Syarikat dan Plaintif akan diisukan dengan saham dalam Syarikat. Saya selama ini menafikan bahawa wang itu dipinjamkan kepada saya kerana itu adalah perkara yang benar. Saya menyatakan bahawa Surat Ikatan Pengakuan Akuan telah ditandatangani di bawah tekanan yang melampau. MAY dan SHA akan memberikan keterangan pada Perbicaraan mengenai perkara ini.

Analysis Of The Evidence

[10] Since the Defendant admitted that he signed the said Deed of Acknowledgment of Debt on 19 June 2023, the only issue would be whether he signed it under duress. Due to the following