(delivering the judgment of the court): The Land Administrator, District of Gombak, has appealed to this court against the order of compensation made by the judge of the High Court in Kuala Lumpur in connection with the acquisition of land lot no 2191, grant 26386 (old grant no 7488), measuring 0.417 acres in the mukim of Batu, District of Gombak, State of Selangor Darul Ehsan. The purpose of the acquisition of the said land is for the project for the widening of the Kepong-Selayang Pandang Highway.

The acquisition had been declared under s 8 of the Land Acquisition Act 1960 in the Government Gazette of the State of Selangor No 1774 dated 31 July 1986. Thus the date of valuation is at 31 July 1986 in accordance with the provisions of the said Act. The said land is located at 141/2 mile, Jalan Kuala Lumpur -- Rawang.

In his grounds of judgment the judge agreed with the submissions of the applicant, ie the proprietor of the land, and awarded compensation in the sum of $ 20 per sq ft as applied for. The judge rejected the submissions of the legal adviser of the state of Selangor who referred to the condition which had been agreed by the proprietor of the land. The judge said as follows:

Viewed from the legal aspect, does it mean that, if a piece of land has

been reserved for use as a road, the government is absolved from paying

any compensation? I cannot see how the Collector of Land Revenue should

be absolved from any compensation notwithstanding there is surrender

within the meaning of s 195 [of the National Land Code 1965].

[Translated from Bahasa Malaysia.]

According to the background of the said land it was purchased from Syarikat Selangor Development by an agreement in the year 1980 at the price of$ 569,250. At that time the said land was for agricultural use. Nevertheless, after the transfer had been completed in the year 1983, the present proprietor of the land applied to the government of the State of Selangor for change of condition of the said land. The application for change of condition was approved by the Majlis Mesyuarat Kerajaan Negeri Selangor [Selangor State Executive Council] on 24 January 1985. In this connection, the respondent, ie the proprietor of the land, had been informed about the approval for the change of condition of the said land on 26 April 1985 through a letter from the District Land Office, Gombak. This letter notified the respondent that the approval for the application for change of condition was subject to several express conditions, including the condition for the payment of additional premium. One of the conditions imposed reads as follows:

(XV111) The proprietor is requested to surrender to the Government the

lands which will be used for public purposes as indicated in the

site plan. [Translated from Bahasa Malaysia.]

One site plan was prepared by the respondent and the plan had been approved by all the departments concerned, viz the Department of Town and Country Planning, the Department of Public Works, the Department of Drainage and Irrigation, the Department of Water Supply, and the Department of Health, Gombak. According to the said plan the portion acquired is reserved for public road widening.

Having regard to the background of the said land, it is clear that the express condition imposed had been accepted by the proprietor of the land, which had made all the payments which were required for the said approval. Having regard to all these facts the Land Administrator, District of Gombak, had issued an order for the value of compensation as recommended by the Selangor Valuation Department, ie $ 10 be awarded as nominal compensation to the proprietor of the land.

The submission of counsel for the respondent is that because acquisition had been made under the Land Acquisition Act 1960, compensation must be made in accordance with the market value. Based on this sub