JUDGMENT

Gopal Sri Ram JCA:

The Background

The new township of Bandar Baru Nilai stands on lands acquired by the State Government of Negeri Sembilan in the exercise of their powers under the Land Acquisition Act 1960 ("the Act"). The present litigation arises out of that acquisition.

The appellants were registered co-proprietors of a piece of land in the Mukim of Labu. It was one of the several pieces of land acquired for the new township. The complaint is that the acquisition is in violation of law.

The appellants' case in support of that complaint is simple enough. It is based on facts that are common ground between the parties. The appellants say that the Forms A and B prescribed by the Act were never issued and that Forms D, E and F though issued were not served. The certificate of urgency to take possession in Form I was issued on 18 September 1993. Two days later, on 20 September 1993, the notification of acquisition in Form K was issued. It was only after Forms I and K were served on the appellants that they became aware of the acquisition. However, by the time Forms I and K were issued and served, the Land Administrator's inquiry into the issue of compensation had already c