The court ruled that conversion of an Originating Summons to a Writ action is unwarranted when there are no serious factual disputes, allowing for resolution through affidavit evidence and cross-examination.

Introduction

[1] By encl 6, the Appellant vide a Notice of Application dated 12 July 2021, pursuant to O 28 r 4(3) and (4), O 28 r 8, O 38 r 2(2) and O 34 of the Rules of Court 2012 and/or the inherent jurisdiction of this Honourable Court sought the followings orders that:

1. The Originating Summons dated 30 April 2021 proceed to trial as a Writ action;

2. The Originating Summons and the Affidavits stand as pleadings subject to the deponents being made available for cross-examination;

3. The parties be permitted to call such other witnesses including the experts as may be necessary;

4. Enclosure 1 to be stayed pending the hearing and full and final disposal of this application;

5. Costs of and incidental to this application are to be borne by the Plaintiffs on solicitor - client indemnity;

6. Pursuant to O 34 of the Rules of Court 2012, such further or other directions and / or orders be made and / or given as this Honourable Court deems fit and just.

[2] Parties will be referred to as the Appellant and the Respondents respectively in this Judgment.

Brief Facts

[3] It is pertinent to recap the sequence of events and facts in order to appreciate the factual matrix of the present motion.

[4] The Summit Subang USJ ("The Summit") is an integrated mixed development project comprising 556 parcels.

[5] The type of use of all the 556 parcels is "perniagaan".

[6] A total of 943,610 aggregate share units have been allocated for all 556 parcels in The Summits.

[7] The 556 parcels are currently being used and/or operated as retail malls (395,740 share units), hotels (152,955 share units), offices (58,240 share units) and car parks (336,675 share units) respectively.

[8] The Appellant/1st Defendant is the Management Corporation of The Summit established under the Strata Titles Act 1985 and Strata Management Act 2013.

[9] The Respondents/Plaintiffs are co-proprietors of a shop lot Parcel No Ml/4/523 in The Summit.

[10] On 30 April 2021, the Respondents filed the Originating Summons (encl 1) supported by their Affidavit-in-Support (Enclosure 2) against the Appellant essentially for, inter alia, the following reliefs:

(i) A declaration that the special resolution passed at the Appellant's Extra Ordinary General Meeting ("EGM") designating "Exclusive Common Property" and "Shared Common Property" to support the determination and imposition of different maintenance charges rates on the designated parcel proprietors, is ultra vires the Strata Titles Act 1985 and Strata Management Act 2013 unlawful, null and void ab initio;

(ii) A declaration that all decisions made and/ or resolutions passed at the Appellant's Annual General Meeting ("AGM") and EGM respectively determining different rates of maintenance charges for different parcels in The Summit are ultra vires the Strata Titles Act 1985 and Strata Management Act 2013 unlawful, null and void ab initio;

(iii) An order that a single maintenance charges rate per share unit per month be imposed in proportion to the allocated share units for each parcel in The Summit for each respective management period; and

(iv) An order that an administrator for the Appellant be appointed pursuant to s 76 of the Strata Management Act 2013 to carry out specific duties on behalf of the Appellant for a fixed period.

[11] On 12 July 2021, the Appellant filed an Affidavit-in-Reply (Enclosure 5) to oppose the said Originating Summons.

[12] On 12 July 2021 the Appellant via encl 6 applied for the entirety of the Originating Summons (encl 1) to be converted into a writ action, for the affidavits to stand as pleadings subject to cros