JUDGMENT

Gopal Sri Ram JCA:

There are two appeals before us. They tell a very sad story about the delay in the courts. All litigation involves some delay or other. But in these cases, the delay has been long and extremely unsatisfactory.

As I said, there are two appeals and they arise out of two suits filed as long ago as 1979 in the High Court at Kota Kinabalu. In each action, the Yayasan Sabah or Sabah Foundation is a plaintiff but its co-plaintiff is different in each case. The first is Civil Suit No. 351/79, the second is Civil Suit No. 352/79. After the issue of the writ, in each case, pleadings were exchanged and some preliminary steps were taken in the action. For convenience, it is necessary to deal with each suit separately, although there is some overlap between them.

In Civil Suit No. 351/79, the writ was issued on 22 February 1979. The defence was delivered on 21 August 1979 and was amended on 28 November 1979. The summons for directions was taken out on 18 September 1981 and made returnable on 26 October 1981. When the summons for directions came up for hearing, it was adjourned at the request of the defendants' counsel (not Mr. Cherryman who has appeared before us i