JUDGMENT

Alice Loke Yee Ching J:

Introduction

[1] The Plaintiff seeks to recover a piece of land for the estate of Chockalingam Chettiar alias MNM Muthukaruppen Chetty alias M.S.M.M Karuppan Chetty alias Payna Reena Avena Supramaniam Chetty s/o Nagappa Chettiar alias Raman Chetty alias Periakaruppan Chetty ("Supramaniam") deceased, but which through the alleged wrongful actions of the defendants, it has been deprived of.

[2] The Plaintiff's locus and authority to bring the present suit arises from the following events.

[3] When Supramaniam died on 27 May 1958, his son Palaniappan applied for and was granted Letters of Administration issued on 17 December 1968. However, Palaniappan passed away on 25 June 2016, leaving the estate unadministered.

[4] On 11 July 2018, Palaniappan's son, Baskaran, obtained Letters of Administration De Bonis Non in respect of the estate of Supramaniam. As Baskaran is living in India, he appointed the plaintiff as his attorney through a Power of Attorney dated 11 July 2018 ("the PA") to do all that was necessary in respect of the immovable property of the estate of Supramaniam. Both the plaintiff and Baskaran are in fact cousins as both are the grandsons of Supramaniam.

[5] Pursuant to the authority granted him, the plaintiff conducted a search in respect of the lands belonging to the estate of Supramaniam. It was then that he discovered that one of the pieces of land which formed part of the estate of Supramaniam had been registered in the name of the 2nd Defendant. Further investigations revealed that registration was the result of several dubious transactions, which then led to this suit being commenced against all the defendants.

Background Facts

[6] The material evidence in the present suit is established primarily from the documentary evidence adduced at the trial. The narration of events giving rise to the present dispute are as follows:

(i) the land which forms the subject matter of this action is held under GM 274, Lot 324 (previously known as EMR 2057 and then as EMR 2516), Mukim Hulu Semenyih, Daerah Hulu Langat ("the said Land");

(ii) the original grant in respect of EMR 2057 shows that on 21 April 1926, the said Land was registered in the name of Payna Reena Avena Supramaniam Chetty s/o Periakaruppan Chetty, one of the several names of Supramaniam;

(iii) Supramaniam continued to be the registered owner of the said Land until his death on 27 May 1958. In the grant of the Letters of Administration issued on 17 December 1968 to his son Palaniappan, the said Land was listed in the Schedule of Property attached to the grant;

(iv) Sometime in 2018, the plaintiff conducted a search on the said Land. The search showed the said Land was registered in the name of the 2nd Defendant ("D2"), and there were also prior transactions which were suspected to be fraudulent;

(v) Upon this discovery, the plaintiff made a police report on 24 October 2018. He also took steps to file a discovery action against the 5th and 6th Defendant ("D5" and "D6") vide Originating Summons BA-24-14-04/2019 in the Shah Alam High Court on 24 April 2019, requesting for the documents relating to the various transactions shown on the title. D5 and D6 furnished the documents applied for, save for three documents;

(vi) The documents furnished by D5 and D6 revealed that on or around 29 November 2016, a Change in Name transaction was presented vide Presentation No 6288/2016. The transaction was processed by the land office of Hulu Langat wherein the registered proprietor of the said Land was then changed from Supramaniam to P. R. A. Subramaniam Cheety A/L Periakaruppan Cheety ("P. R. A. Subra") bearing IC No. 361205-08-5453;

(vii) Subsequent to the name change, vide Presentation No 802/2017, the said Land was transferred from P. R. A. Subra to D1 on 15 February 2017;

(viii) Shortly thereafter, D1 executed a Sales and Purchase Agreement dated 15 May 2017 with D3 and D4 to sell them the said Land for a consideration sum of RM600,000.00. Upon executin