(Enclosure 467 & 469)

Introduction

[1] Enclosure 467 is an application by all the Defendants except the 3rd Defendant for an order that the ex-parte committal proceedings and/or the entire inter-parte committal proceedings filed by the Plaintiff against the Defendants concerning the stay of execution order dated 29 January 2024 or any related order be cancelled or set aside.

[2] Enclosure 469 is an application by Defendants' solicitors for an order that that the ex-parte committal proceedings and/or the entire inter-parte committal proceedings filed by the Plaintiff against the Defendants' solicitors, namely Tetuan Ismail, Khoo & Associates, John Khoo Boo Lai, and Khoo Ding Yuan, Martin, concerning the stay of execution order dated 29 January 2024 or any related order be cancelled or set aside.

B. Background Of The Application

[3] Pursuant to the Order (Enclosure 327) dated 29 January 2024, this Court has allowed the Defendant's application for a stay of execution in respect of an Order dated 9 January 2024 pending the disposal of the Defendant's appeal against the said Order in Court of Appeal. Pursuant to clause (iii) of the said Order dated 29 January 2024, all the Defendants have given their undertaking to the Court not to dispose of their movable and immovable assets.

[4] Pursuant to this Order, the Plaintiff has written to all banks related to the Defendants regarding the undertaking by the Defendant via the said order dated 29 January 2024 and emphasized that it is binding on the banks that the they should continue to freeze all the bank accounts of the Defendants and/or should not allow any withdrawal and/or release of any funds in any forms whatsoever from all the Defendant's bank account which shall include all movable assets, ie cash, monies, fixed deposits (FD), stocks, shares, bonds and any forms of deposits from the date when the said undertaking is made.

[5] The Plaintiff later on filed an ex-parte application via encl 442 for an order that leave is granted by this Honourable Court to the Plaintiff to commit to prison against D1, D2, D4, D5, D6, D7, D8, D9, D10, D11, D12, D13, D14, Tetuan Ismail, Khoo & Associates, John Khoo Boo Lai and Martin Khoo Ding Yuan being the Defendants' solicitor. The reason of this application is due to the alleged breach of the Defendants' undertaking of the Order dated 29 January 2024. The ex-parte application (Enclosure 442) was heard on 1 October 2024 and upon hearing submission of the Plaintiff, an ex-parte order for a leave to proceed with committal proceeding against the Defendants and the Defendants' solicitors was granted. Upon being served of the ex-parte Order dated 1 October 2024, the Defendants' filed these Notice of Application (Enclosure 467 and 469) to set aside the said Order.

C. Defendants' Submission

[6] The committal proceedings ought to be proceed by the Plaintiff is an abuse of the Court process to delay this case, which was originally scheduled for a full trial. The Defendants have instructed their solicitors to write a letter to the bank to inform them of the Court order dated 29 January 2024 and to seek their cooperation, all of which is in accordance with the Court order dated 29 January 2024. Therefore, the Defendants have done nothing whatsoever amounting to contempt of Court and the ex-parte application by the Plaintiff for leave to proceed with committal proceeding against the Defendant is purely an abuse of the Court process.

[7] Secondly, the Order dated 29 January 2024, which is used as the basis for these committal proceedings is not specific, especially regarding the freezing of bank account. Therefore