JUDGMENT

Amarjeet Singh Serjit Singh J:

Introduction

[1] The Management Corporation ("MC") of Q Sentral, a stratified office building ("MC") brought two claims before the Strata Management Tribunal ("the Tribunal") for late payment interest arising from the late payment of service charges and contribution to the sinking fund (collectively referred to as the statutory charges) against the applicant, Mok Shiau Ping. The applicant is the registered proprietor of two units: (i) Unit 20-10 and (ii) Unit 33-12 in Q Sentral. She had long outstanding statutory charges that were not paid.

[2] The statutory charges are mandatory and provided for in ss 60 and 61 of the Strata Management Act 2013 ("SMA 2013"). The outstanding amount of RM76,952.88 were eventually paid on 7 November 2019. The applicant claimed that she paid the statutory charges on the basis of an agreement between the MC (represented by one Miss Tham) and the applicant's representative, one Lim Hua Keong ("LHK"), who was her husband, in a meeting held in October 2019. The agreement was to the effect that the late payment interests would be waived if the applicant paid the entire outstanding statutory charges in one payment. The MC denied the existence of the said agreement.

[3] When the applicant did not pay the late payment interest, the MC resorted to the Tribunal to recover the same. Two claims were brought. The first was Claim No TPS/W-1358- 4/2022 ("Claim 1358") in respect of Unit 33-12, while the second was Claim No TPS/W-1094-3/2022 ("Claim 1094") in respect of Unit 20-10. Both the claims were heard together as they involved the same facts and issues, only different units. At the end of the proceedings, the Tribunal ordered that the applicant pay late payment interest due and owing as at 1 May 2022, amounting to RM29,902.90 for Unit 20-10 and RM 14,292.17 for Unit 33-12.

[4] The applicant filed separate judicial review proceedings challenging the decision of the Tribunal. Judicial Review Application No WA-25-314-10/2023 ("JR 314") is in respect of Claim 1358, which concerns Unit 33-12, while Judicial Review Application No WA-25-315-10/2023 ("JR 315") is in respect of Claim 1094, which concerns Unit 20-10. The reliefs sought in both the applications was for an order of certiorari to quash the decision allowing the claim for late payment interest.

[5] On 4 December 2024,1 dismissed both the applications with costs.

The Pleadings Before The Tribunal

[6] The procedure on pleadings is provided in Part II of the Strata Management (Strata Management Tribunal) Regulations 2015 ("the 2015 Regulations"), comprising regs 6 to 14. These regulations provide for: (i) "statement of claim" (Form 1); (ii) "defence and counterclaim" (Form 2); and (iii) "defence to counterclaim" (Form 3). It does not provide a "Reply to Defence".

[7] The claims for late payment interest made by the MC are, as alluded to above, for late payment interest for the late payment of the statutory charges for units 31-12 and 20-10 owned by the applicant.

[8] In her defence, the applicant alleged that in a meeting in October 2019, LHK and one Miss Tham, from the MC it was agreed the late payment interest would be waived if the applicant pays the amount in one payment. On 7 November 2019, the applicant settled the outstanding statutory charges. The applicant relied on statements of accounts where she said credit notes, ie reflected by the abbreviation "CN", was an indication that the late payment interest was waived. The following statements of account were referred to:

(i) Statement of Account dated 29 August 2019 and7 November 2019 for Unit 20-10; and

(ii) Statement of Account dated 29 August 2019 and15 October 2019 for Unit 33-12.

[9] The MC used Form 3, ie "Defence to Counterclaim" to make its replies to each paragraph of the Defence. The main replies were as follows:

(i) No agreement to waive the late payment interest was ever made;

(ii) The email dated 29 August 2019 was sent showing onlythe statutory charges due and ow