James Foong JCA:

Introduction

[1] This is an appeal against the decision of the High Court in Malacca which allowed the respondents' application (the said application) dated 27 July 2004 to add the appellants as the 9th, 10th and 11th defendant respectively in this case. After hearing submissions, we unanimously allowed this appeal with costs here and below and ordered the deposit for this appeal to be refunded to the appellants. Our grounds are as follows:

Background

[2] The respondents are plaintiffs in this case. They were, together with some other third parties, totaling 37 in all, registered proprietors of undivided shares in a piece of land held under Grant no 2958 for lot 579 in the Mukim Ayer Panas in the District of Jasin Meleka (the said land). Intending to sell this said land to a company known as Astana Strategi (M) Sdn Bhd (Astana), they entered into a written sale and purchase agreement with Astana. Acting for the respondents and some of the registered proprietors in this sale was the legal firm of Ms Nordin & Phua. The partners of Ms Nordin & Phua at the material time were the appellants in this appeal. The solicitors for Astana were Ms Badaruzaman Chandran