KC TRANSPORT & ANOR V JABATAN PERHUTANAN SABAH The Application was dismissed on 17.11.03. I now give the grounds therefor.

The 1st and 2nd Applicants (The Applicants) had sought an order of certiorari to quash the Respondent's decision contained in a letter dated 23rd July 2003 addressed to one Rakyat Berjaya Sdn Bhd (RBJ) requiring RBJ to instruct its contractor to pay royalties and fines amounting to RM612,684.22.

RBJ had been awarded a Benta Wawasan Timber Concession pursuant to which RBJ had entered into a Log Extraction and Timber Sale Agreement with the 1st Applicant (KCT) appointing KCT as its contractor. KCT had in turn appointed the 2nd Applicant as its main contractor.

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In response to a police report lodged by one Lee Kok Hwa (the complainant) complaining about the alleged disappearance of 1000 to 2000 logs in the area of which RBJ was the contractor and the 2nd Applicant the main contractor, the Respondent carried out an investigation. There was no love lost between the complainant and KCT, the former complaining that the company of which he was the operations manager stood to lose a substantial sum in contract fees if the logs which had allegedly di