Mokhtar Sidin JCA:

The background of this appeal may be stated briefly as follows. There are two civil actions involved. One of them is Johor Bahru Civil Suit No. 22- 98-1994. It was filed in the High Court at Johor Bahru (hereinafter referred to as "the J.B. action"). The other is Kuala Lumpur High Court Civil Suit No. D1-22-501-1994 (hereinafter referred to as "the K.L. action"). These two civil actions arose from a syndicated term loan of RM20 million granted under a Facility Agreement dated 30 June 1992 by Perdana Merchant Bankers Bhd. (formerly known as Intradagang Merchant Bankers (M) Berhad) and five other financial institutions which were the six lenders (hereinafter collectively referred to as "the lenders") to a company called Carah Enterprise Sdn. Bhd. (hereinafter referred to as "Carah"). Carah (the fifth appellant in this appeal) is the plaintiff in the J.B. action where the defendant is Perdana Merchant Bankers Bhd. (hereinafter referred to as "Perdana") which was sued in its capacity as principal and trustee, the manager and agent for the aforesaid five financial institutions.

In the K.L. action, the plaintiffs are the lenders and the four defendants (the f