Ong CJ (Malaya):

The respondents are the owners of certain lands situate off Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, which they have developed as a housing estate. The appellants were miners holding a lease over some 25 acres of land lying south of the respondents' property. They were issued their first hydraulic licence to work this land in November 1964.

On 29 December 1966 "a minor landslide" was reported to the Mines Department by the appellants as having occurred "due to the recent heavy rain". They further stated that they were in the course of doing work to restore the land affected to its natural state. On 24 January 1967 Enche Redzuan, the then Deputy Senior Inspector of Mines, visited the mine and observed such work being done filling in the slip. On 22 February 1967 he wrote to the respondents' solicitors stating that "the damage was caused by a slip of ground on a mine face which had been left unworked for some time. The slip was brought about by wet weather ...." It was alleged by the respondents that a further slip occurred in February 1967 and others subsequently, of which no precise dates or particulars were to be found on the record.

On 21 May 1968 the respondents i