Suraya Othman JCA:

Introduction

[1] The five respondents/defendants except the 4th respondent/defendant filed a notice of application (encl 7) for a stay of proceedings of the civil suit pending the matter being referred for arbitration pursuant to s 10 of the Arbitration Act 2005 . The High Court on 11 October 2018 allowed the respondents' application for stay (encl 7). The appellant/plaintiff, dissatisfied, appealed against that decision. We heard the appeal and allowed the appeal. We now give our reasons for doing so.

Case Background

[2] The appellant, Kebabangan Petroleum Operating Company Sdn Bhd is a company incorporated for the purpose of carrying out the exploration and production of petroleum pursuant to a Production Sharing Contract for the benefit of Petroleum Nasional Berhad ("Petronas") and its co - ventures.

[3] The 1st respondent, Mikuni (M) Sdn Bhd was the supplier of actuated ball valves for the appellant's offshore activities.

[4] The 2nd to 5th respondents, Yong Chun Khiong, Ismail Bahari, Aminuddin Idrus and Mohd Najib Ahmed @ Ahmad were the directors of the 1st respondent at the material time and were sued for, inter alia, for fraud and/or fraudulent misrep