The court established that committee members have a fiduciary duty to distribute sale proceeds equitably among beneficiaries, and failure to do so constitutes a breach of trust.

[1] The Plaintiffs and the Defendants are Iban and the residents of a longhouse known as Rumah Wing at Sungai Poh, Suai, Niah, Miri. There were 51 bileks in the longhouse and the 1st Defendant was the Tuai Rumah of the longhouse. The 1st Defendant together with the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Defendants were the members of their longhouse committee known as the Jawatan Kuasa Kemajuan dan Keselamatan Kampung (JKKK).

[2] The residents of the longhouse owned a parcel of communal native customary land containing approximately 403 acres situated at Sungai Telong, Suai, Niah. The residents including the Plaintiffs and the Defendants agreed to sell the land for RM604,500.00, that the JKKK was authorized to sell the land on behalf of the residents of the longhouse and that the proceeds of the sale would be distributed equally to the 51 bileks, each bilek to receive a sum of RM11,852.94.

[3] The land was sold in March 2011 and the Defendants had disbursed RM6,313.00 as the proceeds to each of the 51 bileks of the longhouse. The Plaintiffs complained that the Defendants had failed to pay or disbursed the balance of the proceeds of the sale to each of them and sued the Defendants for the balance which aggregated to RM144,038.47 with interest thereon.

[4] The Defendants denied the Plaintiffs' claim against them. The Defendants pleaded, and the 1st and 2nd Defendants had testified, that at a meeting of the longhouse they had informed the residents of the longhouse that the purchase price of the land was at RM2,000.00 per hectare. They said that the decision was unanimously agreed to by everybody at the meeting. They said that they also informed the residents that they might use the service of a broker to sell the land. They testified that the purchase price of the land was RM322,000.00 only, based on the price of RM2,000.00 per hectare.

[5] The 1st and 2nd Defendants testified that based on the purchase price of RM322,000.00, they had disbursed in full the sum of RM6,313.00 to each bilek which sum was put inside an envelope and given to each of the 51 bileks. They contended that the Plaintiffs are not entitled to the sum of RM144,038.47 as demanded and that there is no merit in the Plaintiffs' claim against them.

[6] At the commencement of the trial the parties agreed to the authenticity of the documents produced and exhibited in the bundles of documents used for trial, the contents subject to proof. During the trial the Defendants did not produce any attendance and or minutes of any meetings to confirm that the residents of Rh. Wing had agreed to sell the land at RM2,000.00 per hectare or for RM322,000.00 only. The Defendants also did not produce any document that they had used or engaged the service of a broker to sell the land on their behalf at the agreed price of RM2,000.00 per hectare or for RM322,000.00. The evidence showed that they did not engage the service of a broker to sell the land and they did not produce any bills or invoice for the fees of the broker.

[7] However the 1st Defendant produced a report for the survey and meeting for the sale of the land which he referred to as the minutes of the meeting. At the bottom of this document there was a rubber stamp and signature of Tr. Emperang ak Bayuk but there was no date on it to indicate when it was made. The 1st and 2nd Defendants did not give the date of this meeting when the residents of the longhouse had allegedly agreed to the sale at the price of RM2,000.00 per hectare. Obviously the 1st Defendant did not prepare this report or document because it was type-written in English and he could not read and write English. During the trial he did not sign but affixed his th