JUDGMENT

Zamani A Rahim JC:

Introduction

[1] The subject matter of the plaintiff application herein (encl. 1) involved a Honda Civic 1.6 EFI (A) motorcar, chassis number EH5-904503, engine number B16A-3411428 (previously the engine number was ME 516-204497), bearing registration number PDD 8281 (hereinafter referred to as "the original Honda motorcar").

[2] Before the plaintiff acquired ownership of the original Honda motorcar, it had three previous registered owners. They were firstly, O & G Engineering (Utara) Sdn. Bhd., registered as the first owner on 6 October 1951; secondly, Encik Tan Meng Seng, registered as the second owner on 14 March 2000, and thirdly, Puan Ang Gaik Ean, registered as the third owner on 2 January 2002.

Inspection Of The Plaintiff Motorcar

[3] The plaintiff was the fourth registered owner. It was registered in his name on 12 January 2004 after the original Honda motorcar had undergone major repairs. The second defendant as the Registrar of Motor Vehicles is under a duty to inspect every vehicle submitted for registration or transfer of registration. Sections 10 and 12 of the Road Transport Act 1987 stipulate as follows:

Application for registration:

10 (1) Eve