Judicial review applications under Order 53 r 3(6) must be filed within 40 days, with the timeline starting from the public gazette publication of the acquisition notice, not from personal service.

[1] The appellant in the present appeal before us, was the applicant in the High Court who had filed an ex parte application for leave to commence judicial review proceedings to quash the decision of the State Authority in having compulsorily acquired two parcels of land belonging to the appellant. In the same application the appellant had also sought two further orders, namely:

(a) a stay of all proceedings of the intended acquisition; and

(b) an extension of time of 40 days in the event its application for leave was filed out of time.

[2] The High Court dismissed the said ex parte application with costs on 27 December 2011. Aggrieved by the decision of the High Court, the appellant appealed to the Court of Appeal. On 30 May 2012, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal with costs and affirmed the decision of the High Court. The appellant is now appealing against the said decision of the Court of Appeal.

[3] On 27 November 2012, leave to appeal was granted by this Court to the appellant on the following questions of law, namely:

(a) where a registered proprietor of a piece of land, who is not the occupier thereof, is challenging the State Authority's decision made pursuant to s 8(1) of the Land Acquisition Act 1960 (Act 486) (the LAA ) declaring that the land is to be acquired, whether the application for leave for judicial review made under O 53 of the Rules of the High 1980 (RHC 1980) must be filed within 40 days from:

(i) the date of the publication of Form D of the LAA in the gazette; or

(ii) the service of the notice of enquiry in Form E of the LAA on the registered proprietor of the land pursuant to s 10(1) of the .

(b) where O 53 r 3(6) of the RHC 1980 requires an application for judicial review to be filed within 40 days from the date "when the decision was first communicated to an applicant", whether the State Authority's decision, made pursuant to s 8(1) of the LAA declaring that the land is to be acquired, is "first communicated" to the registered proprietor:

(i) on the date of the publication of Form D of the LAA in the gazette; or

(ii) the date when Form D of the LAA is served on the registered proprietor of the land by way of an appendix to Form E of the pursuant to s 10(3) of the ; or

(iii) the date when the notice of enquiry in Form E of the LAA is served on the registered proprietor of the land pursuant to s 10(1) .

Factual Background

[4] At all material times, the appellant was the registered proprietor of Lot 150 GRN 3605 and Lot 151, GRN 3606, Seksyen 18, Bandar Alor Setar, Kedah. The two lots were adjacent to each other. The appellant had obtained planning permission from the Majlis Perbandaran Kota Setar vide its letter dated 12 December 1993 for the construction of a building known as Plaza Tunku Yaacob on Lot 150 and that the building had been partially constructed.

[5] By a letter dated 5 January 2011 from the 3rd respondent, the appellant was informed that the 2nd respondent was planning to re-develop the said Plaza Tunku Yaakob and that the 3rd respondent together with anoth