Abdul Hamid Mohamad J:

The five plaintiffs and two defendants are brothers.They come from a family of 14 children, the seven of them and seven sisters.The land which is now in dispute (Holding No. 1359, Mukim 15 Daerah Seberang Perai Selatan) was registered in the name of their father and uncle.So were two other pieces.In May 1972 the uncle met with an accident.Fearing that the uncle might pass away the father and uncle decided to transfer the disputed land to the two defendants.The other two pieces were transferred to the children of the uncle.The land in question remained registered in the two defendants' names.The father passed away in 1980.In 1992, ie, 20 years after the transfer, the government acquired part of the land.With it came compensation.The plaintiffs wanted a part of it. The defendant refused to give.Hence this suit.The plaintiffs say that the land was transferred to the defendants as trustees to hold for all the seven brothers (the seven sisters were not to get anything). The defendants deny that they are trustees.They claim that they bought the land from the father for RM3,000.

The onus is on the plaintiffs to prove on the balance of probabilities that the