Evrol Mariette Peters JC:

GROUNDS OF JUDGMENT The Appeal

[1]This is the Judgment Debtor’s (“JD”) appeal to the Judge in Chambers against the decision of the Senior Assistant Registrar (“SAR”), for inter alia, the following:

a)That the Bankruptcy Notice dated 6 December 2018, filed against the JD, be set aside; and

b)That there was no act of bankruptcy committed by the JD as the Judgment Sum due to the Judgment Creditor (“JC”) had been “secured and compounded” through the titles for apartments that have been mortgaged by Solaris Estates Sdn Bhd;

The brief facts

[2]On 22 April 2013, pursuant to Civil Suit No 22NCVC-1501-12/2012 (“the 2012 Suit”), a Consent Judgment (“the Consent Judgment”) was entered into between the First Plaintiff (the JC in this case) and Second Plaintiff (Pembinaan Kota Laksamana (Melaka) Sdn Bhd) on one hand, and the First Defendant (Dato’ R Arunasalam A/L V. Ramasamy (“Dato’ Aru”)), the Second Defendant (the JD in this case), and the Third Defendant (Solaris Estates Sdn Bhd (“Solaris Estates”)) on the other.

[3]The Consent Judgment which was recorded pursuant to a Settlement Agreement dated 28 March 2013 (“the Settlement Agreement”) (attached as Exhibit TSMS-1 to the JC’s Affidavit-in-Reply deposed to by Mat Shah bin Safuan, dated 24 January 2019) required all Defendants in the 2012 Suit to make full and final payment to the JC, a sum of MYR2.95 million (“the Judgment Sum”).

[4]The Consent Judgment reads:

MAKA ADALAH PADA HARI INI DIHAKIMI SECARA PENGHAKIMAN PERSETUJUAN bahawa menurut Perjanjian Penyelesaian bertarikh 28 Mac 2013 yang ditandatangani di antara Plaintif Pertama, Defendan Kedua dan Defendan Ketiga dan dilampirkan sebagai “Ekshibit A” bersama-sama penghakiman ini, Defendan-Defendan hendaklah membayar kepada Plaintif-Plaintif jumlah sebanyak MYR2,950,000 (Ringgit Malaysia Dua Juta Sembilan Ratus Lima Puluh Ribu) sahaja sebagai penyelesaian penuh dan muktamad tindakan ini atas terma-terma dan syarat-syarat, inter alia, seperti berikut:

(1)Defendan Ketiga hendaklah membayar wang berjumlah MYR2,950,000 (Ringgit Malaysia Dua Juta Sembilan Ratus Lima Puluh Ribu) tersebut kepada Plaintif Pertama melalui cek atau pindahan telegrafik (Telegraphic Transfer) pada atau sebelum 31 Disember 2013;

(2)Sekiranya:

(i)Defendan Ketiga ingkar dan/atau gagal membayar Plaintif Pertama jumlah wang MYR2,950,000 tersebut; dan/atau

(ii)Defendan Kedua dan/atau Defendan Ketiga ingkar dan/atau gagal mematuhi mana-mana terma atau syarat Penghakiman Persetujuan ini,

Maka keseluruhan jumlah wang seperti dituntut oleh Plaintif-Plaintif di dalam Saman dan Pernyataan Tuntutan tindakan ini atau mana-mana bahagian daripadanya yang masih terhutang dan kena bayar pada ketika itu perlu dibayar oleh Defendan-Defendan kepada Plaintif-Plaintif dengan serta-merta bersama dengan faedah pada kadar 5% setahun bersama kos.

(3)Tiada perintah mengenai kos; dan

DAN tindakan ini ditarik balik terhadap Defendan Pertama dengan kebebasan untuk memfailkan semula.

[5]As at 31 December 2013, the JD had failed to comply with the terms of the Consent Judgment. As a result, the JC filed Bankruptcy Proceedings against the JD at the Seremban High Court under Bankruptcy No 29NCC-1858-12/2014 (“the Seremban Bankruptcy Proceedings”). In the course of the Seremban Bankruptcy Proceedings, sometime in the year 2016, the JD had again approached the JC to settle the Judgment Sum.

[6]On 11 August 2016, a Mode of Settlement Agreement (“the Mode of Settlement Agreement”) was executed between the JC on one hand, and Solaris Estates, the JD and Dato’ Pang Chow Huat (“Dato’ Pang”) on the other. The JC proceeded to withdraw the Seremban Bankruptcy Proceedings against the JD.

[7]However, despite many attempts made by the JC to recover the Judgment Sum from the JD, Solaris Estates, or Dato’ Pang, they had failed to do so. On 26 April 2018, the JC proceeded to file Bankruptcy Proceedings against the JD at the High Court in Johor Bahru under Bankruptcy No JA-29NCC-697-04-2018 (“the 697 Suit”)