Abdul Malek Ahmad FCJ:

We heard this appeal on 21 and 22 January 2002 but reserved judgment to a date to be fixed. The onerous task of preparing the grounds of judgment, based on thirty-four volumes of the appeal records and numerous bundles of documents, authorities and affidavits, was initially assigned to my learned brother Mohtar Abdullah FCJ who was subsequently admitted to hospital on 5 August 2002 and since he is still being hospitalised, the matter had been reassigned to me on 25 April 2003. Hence this unavoidable delay.

Leave to appeal had been granted by this court (Wan Adnan Ismail PCA, Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim CJM and Haidar Mohd. Noor FCJ) on 10 October 2001 on sixteen questions as set out below:

1a. In the event an interpretation is advanced and/or reliance is placed on documents that have been challenged on grounds of or analogous to that of "false label" and/or "sham documents", is there any place for the application of principles on evidential restrictions that would otherwise apply to common case of disputed interpretation on expressly recognised contractual documents.

1b. In relation to such "false label" and/or "sham documents", are the terms con