JUDGMENT

John Lee Kien How @ Mohd Johan Lee J:

[After Full Trial]

A. Introduction

i. Background Facts

[1] The Plaintiffs and the Defendant are siblings and are the children of the late Chin Fan Hee and the late Kew Ah Char @ Ying Ah Cheah ("the Deceased").

[2] The Deceased left behind the following properties:

(i) the registered owner of two (2) parcels of lands under title number HS(D) 79413, Lot No 19459, Mukim dan Daerah Kuala Lumpur ("the Family House");

(ii) HS(M) 5995, PT 12550, Mukim Empang, Daerah Hulu Langat, Negeri Selangor ("Taman Saraya House");

(iii) 1,000.00 shares in Chin Fan Hee & Sons Sdn Bhd ("tChin Fan Hee");

(iv) 60,000.00 shares in Pajak Gadai Sin Yung Sdn Bhd ("Sin Yung");

(v) 31,673.00 shares in Pajak Gadai Sin Foong Tong Sdn Bhd ("Sin Foong Tong");

(vi) 2 shares in Kah Meow Lim Plantations Sdn Bhd ("Kah Meow Lim");

(vii) 52,250.00 shares in Kashilin Plantations Sdn Bhd ("Kashilin");

(viii) 47,000.00 shares in Fah Cheong Plantations Sdn Bhd ("Fah Cheong"); and

(ix) 14,000.00 shares in Pajak Gadai Chen Chang Hin Sdn Bhd ("Chen Chang Hin").

[3] During the Deceased lifetime, she conveyed the Family House, Saraya House, and her shares in Chin Fan Hee, Sin Yung, Sin Foong Tong, and Kah Meow Lim to the Defendant.

[4] The Deceased had held a joint account no, 112028124382 at Malayan Banking Berhad, Kajang Branch ("Maybank") with the Defendant and also had a sum of RM1.5 million, which she secured in a consent judgment entered against her grandsons in suit No WA-22NCvC-197-04/2018 ("Suit 197") at the Kuala Lumpur High Court and the same is being held by her solicitors, Messrs Richard Talalla & Harun ("Richard Talalla") (now known as "Messrs Dinesh Ratnarajah Partnership") as stakeholder.

[5] One Mark Robin Talalla ("Mark"), the former partner of Richard Talalla, beside having conduct of Suit 197 on behalf of the Deceased, was also the solicitor appointed to conduct the transfers of the Family House and Saraya House from her to the Defendant as well as the preparation of a will which she executed on 17 January 2018 ("Impugned Will").

[6] As the Deceased was unable to converse or communicate either in Bahasa Malaysia or English and since Hakka, a Chinese dialect spoken by the Deceased is alien to Mark, he enlisted a certified interpreter and/or translator, Lim Su Chin ("Lim") to be the conduit between him and the Deceased.

[7] When the Deceased passed away on 6 May 2019, her estate which consists of her shares in Kashilin, Fah Cheong and Chen Chang Hin and the said sum of RM1.5 million became vested in the Defendant, as he was the named executor and trustee and sole beneficiary of her estate under the Impugned Will.

Following this, the Plaintiffs filed this action against the Defendants for breach of contract and/or negligence. Cast against the background above, the Plaintiffs' pleaded case against the Defendant was that the Defendant had, in a premeditated and systematic manner, shrouded in secrecy and/or under suspicious circumstances, coerced and/or exercised undue influence and/or actuated fraud to cause the unlawful transfers of the Deceased's real and personal properties to himself and caused the Deceased to execute the Impugned Will and that the Deceased lacked the testamentary capacity to execute the Impugned Will due to her mental state.

[8] The Defendant vehemently denied the allegations made by the Plaintiffs. The Defendant argued that the inter vivos gifts were willingly and freely conveyed by the Deceased and when executing the Impugned Will, the Deceased, notwithstanding her state of bodily health at the material time, possessed a sound disposing mind and understood the nature of her act and its effect.

[9] The Deceased was at all times represented by a solicitor, who had enlisted the assistance of an interpreter and/or translator. The transfer of her shares in the four (4) named companies was duly witnessed by one Chen Yoke Kian ("Chen"), in the presence of one Loh Thim Choy ("Company Secretary") and his daughter. In ot