Appeal

[1] This appeal by the appellant ("the defendant") is lodged against the decision of the Kuala Lumpur High Court in allowing the claim of the respondents ("the plaintiffs") after a full trial.

[2] We heard the appeal on 31 May and 1 June 2010. By a majority judgment (Low Hop Bing and Zaharah bt Ibrahim JJCA concurring, and Mohd Hishamudin bin Mohd Yunus JCA dissenting), we allowed the appeal. We now give the grounds of the majority judgment.

Plaintiffs' Claim

[3] The plaintiffs are partners who have been carrying on the business of supplying tanker lorry services to carry latex from Kota in Negeri Sembilan to Port Klang in Selangor since 1987.

[4] The plaintiffs' claim against the defendant is based on an oral contract in March 1999 with the defendant to replant, maintain and fertilise oil palm seedlings on 240 acres (Kawasan A) which was half the area of Estate No 6 belonging to the defendant; and the plaintiffs were promised the right to harvest oil palm fruits on the 480 acres in the entire Estate No 6 for ten years. Since there was no written contract, the plaintiffs stopped all works in October 2000 and sought to recover sums of money that they had purported