JUDGMENT

Lim Hock Leng J:

The Parties And The Causes Of Action

[1] The 53 Plaintiffs are "successful applicants" for plots of land of varying sizes in Sg Nipah Tambisan, Kinabatangan, which in aggregate measure 1,050 acres more or less. These plots of land will be collectively referred to as "the subject land."

[2] They claim to have entered the subject land to take possession ever since they were successful in their land applications, and to have cultivated oil palm trees thereon since 2004.

[3] The 1st to 7th Defendants are sued as trespassers who have prevented the Plaintiffs from carrying plantation works and from harvesting the oil palm fruits.

[4] The 8th Defendant is the Assistant Collector of Land Revenue Kinabatangan who is able to decide on claims premised on native customary rights.

[5] The 9th Defendant is the Director of the Lands and Surveys.

[6] The 8th and 9th Defendants were sued for, inter alia, for breach of their fiduciary duties, failing to issue native titles to the applicants and "wrongfully intending" to issue a communal title for land which is inclusive of the subject land to the inhabitants of Sg Nipah Tambisan, including the 1st-7th Defendants.

[7] The 10th Defend