Mohd. Azmi SCJ:

This appeal involves the interpretation of O. 89 Rules of the High Court 1980 as relates the propriety of its application to the facts and circumstances of the respondent's claim for recovery of possession of state land from the appellants in Sabak Bernam in the state of Selangor. Apparently, the parcels of land were originally intended to be alienated to the appellants and other landless farmers who have been occupying and farming them for years, but the respondent now thought it fit to hand them over to the Federal Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (FELCRA), a statutory body, whose main function currently we are told is to rehabilitate abandoned agricultural land. The main issue before us is whether on the facts, the respondent ought to have sued the appellants by writ instead of by the summary procedure under O. 89.

It is common ground that by originating summons dated 17 January 1990, the respondent applied under O. 89 for an order to recover possession of the whole of the land identified as Lots 3806 to 4522 against the six appellants and other persons in occupation of the state land at Mukim Sungai Panjang in the district of Sabak Bernam