JUDGMENT

Eusoffe Abdoolcader FJ:

These two consolidated appeals, by the Government of the State of Negeri Sembilan and the Commissioner of Lands and Mines, Negeri Sembilan (whose correct designation however should be the Director of Lands and Mines by virtue of the amendment effected by PU (B) 324 of 1970) in Civil Appeal No. 86 of 1984, and Lesco Development Corporation Sdn. Bhd. (`Lesco') in Civil Appeal No. 101 of 1984, relate basically to the claim of the respondents to an equitable right to remain on their respective lots on the land in Ulu Temiang in the Mukim of Seremban on which they have been resettled. The respondents originally had also sued the Collector of Land Revenue, Seremban (`the Collector') and the Registrar of Titles, Negeri Sembilan but at the inception of the hearing in the High Court withdrew the claim against them.

It will be necessary to briefly set out the factual background of this matter, without however requiring any extensive introgression into details as in our view the issues that arise for determination are primarily matters of law. The respondents who were living in houses built by them on some land in Rahang Kecil in the Township of Seremban and