GROUNDS OF JUDGMENT

In this action, the Applicant seek to remove the private caveat registered by the Respondent upon 5 pieces of land all located in Bandar Kuala Lumpur, District of Kuala Lumpur.

Background

The original proprietor of the lands was, Maril-Rionebel (M) Sdn. Bhd., which was wound up on 14.11.2000. The lands were charged to OCBC Bank (M) Berhad under 2 charges. After Maril-Rionebel had been wound up, the Official Receiver from the Insolvency Department Malaysia had appointed as the provisional liquidator on behalf of Maril. The Applicant herein purchased the said land via a Sale and Purchase Agreement dated 30.8.2005 between the Applicant and the Official Receiver on behalf of Maril. The Applicant was the highest bidder in a close tender offer with the purchase price of Ringgit Malaysia One Hundred Million and One Hundred Thousand (RM100,100,000.00). For this sale and purchase, the Applicant has obtained approval from the Foreign Investment Committee (FIC) on 21.11.2005. Following the said approval, pursuant to the term of the Sale and Purchase Agreement, the Applicant deposited to the Official Receiver a bank guarantee dated 21.12.2005, issued by Bumiputra Commerce Bank Berhad an amount of RM36,455,490.78. Later, a renewed bank guarantee dated 30.11.2006 issued by CIMB Bank was deposited to the Official Receiver.

However, due to the private caveat lodged by Anafartalar Cadesi Sdn. Bhd. (a contributory shareholder) on 27.12.2004, and 2 private caveats thereafter lodged by Raju Jayaraman Kerpaya on 13.2.2006 and 22.3.2006 on the said lands, the sale and purchase was unable to be completed because the Official Receiver was unable to issue "Completion Notice" to the Applicant.

Via a recent letter dated 29.5.2007, the Official Receiver extended the Sale and Purchase Agreement to 30.11.2007 to enable the private caveats lodged upon the land to be removed and the "Completion Notice" to be issued.

Private Caveats

R Jayaraman was an ex-director of Maril Rionebel and Anafatalar Caddesi Sdn. Bhd. Anafartalar was a share holder in Maril Rionebel. Prior to lodging the 2 caveats, R Jayaraman had attempted to obstruct the execution of the said sale and purchase.

The Applicant submitted that the caveat lodged by Anafartalar on 27.12.2004 was a ruse by R Jayaraman and the reason in supporting the entry of the caveat was similar to the reason given by R Jayaraman at the time when he lodged his 2 caveats upon the said lands.

Later the Official Receiver managed to obtain an order to remove Anafatalar's caveat via an action in KLHC S6-24-2395-2005 (Originating Summons 1). Thereafter, the Official Receiver once again made an application in KLHC via the S6-24-575-2006 (Originating Summons 2) applying to remove R Jayaraman's first caveat (Raju's caveat 1). Pending the disposal of the S6-24-575-2006 hearing, the Respondent herein, that is the solicitor acting on behalf of R Jayaraman lodged the second private caveat upon the said lands on 22.3.2006 (Raju's caveat 2). The Respondent was also the solicitor representing R Jayaraman in the Originating Summons 2 action. The Respondent was acting on the instructions of R Jayaraman, and subsequently lodged a private caveat upon the said lands on 25.4.2007 (Respondent's caveat 3). Among the reasons given by the Respondent at the time of the entry of Respondent's caveat