NH Chan JCA:

I have had the advantage of reading the judgment in draft of my lord Mokhtar Sidin, JCA and I also agree that the appeal should be dismissed. The facts are as stated in his judgment. I shall state below the law on the application of the defeasibility provisions of s. 340(2)(a) and (b) of the National Land Code and the manner in which it is applied to the facts of the instant appeal.

The Law

Section 340(1) and (2) of the National Land Code reads:

340.(1) The title or interest of any person or body for the time being registered as proprietor of any land, or in whose name any lease, charge or easement is for the time being registered, shall, subject to the following provisions of this section, be indefeasible.

(2) The title or interest of any such person or body shall not be indefeasible -

(a) in any case of fraud or misrepresentation to which the person or body, or any agent of the person or body, was a party or privy; or

(b) where registration was obtained by forgery, or by means of an insufficient or void instrument; or

(c) where the title or interest was unlawfully acquired by the person or body in the purported exercise of any power or authority confer