ABDUL MALIK ISHAK J On 25 June 1993, Long Yoke Wee (Long) by a sale and purchase agreement (S & P agreement) (encl 8, exh RZA 1) sold three pieces of land comprised in Grant 21957 Lot 3523, Mukim of Pulai, Grant 944 Lot 892, District of Johor Bahru and Grant 20044 Lot 911, Mukim of Pulai (only Grant 21957 Lot 3523, Mukim of Pulai is the subject matter of dispute and in this judgment I shall refer to it as the said land) to Raja Zainal Abidin bin Raja Hussin (Raja Zainal Abidin) for a sum of RM8m, which sum was paid in cash to Long. Long then handed the three original issue documents of title to the three pieces of land together with the instruments of transfer in Form 14A duly executed by Long in favour of Raja Zainal Abidin to the latter. Vacant possession was said to be handed to Raja Zainal Abidin. Before signing the S & P agreement, Long assured Raja Zainal Abidin that the three pieces of land were free from encumbrances and though there was a private caveat lodged on 14 January 1989 by Goh Keng How (Goh) on the said land, Long still gave an assurance that he would apply to the Registrar of Titles to remove that private caveat. This was done. But as quick as lightning, Goh applied ex parte and obtained an order from Ariffin Jaka J on 20 June 1994, wherein the private caveat entered by Goh was extended sehingga perintah selanjut mahkamah ini.

In support of that ex parte application, Goh affirmed an affidavit dated 13 June 1994 (encl 3) and claimed to be a partner of Mingshu Syndicate and that Long held the said land under a trust deed dated 2 July 1963 for Mingshu Syndicate. Incidentally, Ho Choo Wing (Ho), who also claimed to be a partner of Mingshu Syndicate, entered a private caveat on the said land -- this was sometime in December 1994. Thus, on 6 February 1995, I granted prayers 1 and 2 of encl 9 and allowed Raja Zainal Abidin to not only intervene but also be added as the first defendant whereas Ho was ordered to be made a second defendant.

From the three affidavits of Goh (encls 3, 13 and 17) it would appear that sometime in 1959, a group of individuals operating under the name of Mingshu Estates and Johore Farms and Plantations was said to have purchased the said land and Long was also said to be the manager of that syndicate at that time. It was also averred that Long held the said land on trust for the syndicate. This very syndicate was eventually registered as a business under the name of Mingshu Syndicate on 19 June 1963.

There were two deaths in this case. Long died on 12 November 1994 whilst Goh died on 8 May 1995. The death of Goh must have been upsetting and, towards this end, I ordered on 27 May 1995 that the person whom the interests of the deceased Goh is transmitted to or devolved upon be made a party to these proceedings. In due course by a summons-in-chambers (encl 30), Wu Shu Chen being the sole executrix and beneficiary of the estate of the deceased Goh applied to be substituted as the plaintiff in this originating summons and on 9 June 1995, I granted her application.

The court order dated 20 June 1994 which extended the private caveat of Goh has prevented Raja Zainal Abidin from registering the instruments of transfers to the three pieces of land in his name. As an aggrieved party, he now seeks to set aside that court order and prays for the reliefs as set out in encl 9 thereof.

Now, from the available evidence, Long was, before his death and at all material times, the registered proprietor of the said land (in fact Longs name appeared in all the three pieces of land) and from exh RZA15 in encl 15, the register document of title was issued in his name on 23 October 1967. For almost 28 long years, Long was, before his death, the registered proprietor of the said land and was armed with the original document of title to the said land at all material times. For that period of time, Long held the title not as a trustee pursuant to s 344 of the National Land Code 1965