JUDGMENT

Gopal Sri Ram JCA:

The Background

This appeal has been brought against the order of the High Court at Kuala Terengganu granting a declaration that certain paragraphs of a consent order made in earlier proceedings between the appellant and the second, third and fourth respondents are no longer binding on the respondents. To appreciate the issues raised in this appeal, it is necessary to recite the factual background against which this appeal rests.

The appellant was at all material times the sub-lessee of certain lands ("the said land") in Kerteh, in the state of Terengganu. The exact area of the said land is uncertain, as it has not been surveyed. But it is not in dispute that it is between 15000 and 20000 acres. In the years 1984 and 1986, the government of the state of Terengganu acquired some 3132 acres of the said land under eight notifications published in the gazette. We will, for convenience refer to these 3132 acres as "the acquired lands". The appellant objected to this acquisition and its objection was, in the usual way, referred to the High Court under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act 1960. In the meantime the appellant took out an originating summons