Gopal Sri Ram JCA:

This appeal, directed against the order of the High Court at Penang, refusing the appellant's application to remove the respondent's caveat raises a short but important point. The brief facts relevant to the appeal are as follows.

The appellant is the registered proprietor of all those lands held under Lots 3440 and 3441, Mukim 13, Daerah Timor Laut, Penang ('the subject land'). On 25 July 1989, the appellant, as vendor, entered into a written agreement of sale with the respondent under the terms of which the former agreed to sell to the latter the subject land and one other lot at a price of RM26,000 per acre. The agreement did not stipulate the date on which completion was to take place. The sale and purchase of the third lot was completed and it does not form the subject matter of the present litigation. On 20 August 1989 the respondent entered a private caveat against the registered document of titles to the subject land.

By a letter dated 9 November 1994, the appellant's solicitors gave the respondent notice to complete the sale and purchase of the subject lands within three months, that is to say, not later than 8 February 1995. The reply to the