1. ) Chek Zaharah Binti Awang 2. ) NOOR AZIAH BINTI ABDUL KARIM v 1. ) Yahaya Bin Baharom Wakil Di Sisi Undang-undang Harta Pusaka Puan Binti Saman 2. ) YAHAYA BIN BAHAROM 3. ) ZAKARIA BIN BAHAROM 4. ) Yahaya Bin Baharom (Wakil Diri Harta Pusaka Osman Bin Bahar) 5. ) Yahaya Bin Baharom (Wakil Diri Harta Pusaka Ahmad Bin Awang Kechik) 6. ) Yahaya Bin Baharom (Wakil Diri Harta Pusaka Kaltum Binti Saad) 7. ) Pentadbir Tanah Daerah Yan
ka-22ncvc-12-03-2023 High Court (Mahkamah Tinggi) 2 February 2026 • KA-22NCvC-12-03/2023 • 28 min read
19 cases cited
(0 SG, 19 foreign)
Catchwords
LAND LAW Sale of land — Agreement — Validity of 1972 Surat Perjanjian Jual Tanah Kebun Getah — Purchaser paid substantial portion of purchase price and entered into continuous occupation — Vendor failed to execute transfer of title — Whether registered proprietors held land as bare trustees/constructive trustees for purchaser. Indefeasibility of title — Defeasibility — Operation of law — Registered proprietors acquired title via inheritance and transmission as volunteers — Whether registered proprietors protected by absolute indefeasibility under s 340(3) of the National Land Code — Whether title defeasible by operation of law to satisfy prior equitable obligations — National Land Code, s 340(4)(b). Transfer — Specific performance — Ancillary orders — Order compelling Land Administrator to register transfer under s 417 of the National Land Code upon recalcitrance of registered proprietors. CIVIL PROCEDURE Locus standi — Beneficiaries — Unadministered estate — Plaintiffs sued as lawful beneficiaries without extracting letters of administration — Whether Plaintiffs possessed requisite locus standi to commence civil action — Exception in Al-Rashidy — Whether action instituted to protect and preserve assets of estate from imminent loss or dissipation. Pleadings — Material facts — Failure to explicitly plead 'trust' or 'equity' — Whether failure fatal to the claim — Whether pleading material facts sufficient to raise constructive trust by operation of law — Rules of Court 2012, O 18 r 7(1). Jurisdiction — High Court — Collateral attack on Shariah Court Faraid Order — Whether Civil High Court possesses jurisdiction to review, impeach or invalidate distribution order issued by competent Shariah Court. EQUITY AND TRUST Trust — Constructive trust/Bare trust — Creation of — Purchaser paid purchase price and entered into continuous possession of land for over 50 years — Payment of quit rent and retention of original issue document of title — Whether constructive trust attached to land upon defendants acquiring registered title. Estoppel — Acquiescence and laches — Abandonment of land — Registered proprietors failed to assert rights or object to purchaser's occupation and cultivation for 51 years — Whether registered proprietors estopped from reclaiming possession and unjustly enriching themselves. LIMITATION Land — Recovery of land — Purchaser in continuous physical possession under agreement for sale — Whether time began to run against purchaser — Whether action statute-barred under s 9(1) of the Limitation Act 1953 — Whether continuous possession operates as a shield — Limitation Act 1953, ss 9(1) & 22(1). Trust property — Action by beneficiary — Exception to limitation — Whether claim for specific performance by purchaser in possession against constructive trustee immune from limitation period — Limitation Act 1953, s 22(1). EVIDENCE Documentary evidence — Presumption — Documents 30 years old — Admissibility of 1972 Agreement produced from proper custody — Whether agreement bore 'honest face' and 'ring of truth' — Evidence Act 1950, s 90. Parol evidence rule — Extrinsic evidence — Mistaken entry of lien-holder's caveat instead of private caveat by layperson — Whether oral evidence admissible to contradict documentary record of caveat to prove transaction was a sale and not a loan — Evidence Act 1950, ss 91 & 92.
Counsel (5)
Parties (9)
Pentadbir Tanah Daerah Yan Defendant Chek Zaharah binti Awang Plaintiff Noor Aziah binti Abdul Karim Plaintiff Yahaya bin Baharom Defendant Yahaya bin Baharom (wakil Diri Harta Pusaka Ahmad bin Awang Kechik) Defendant Yahaya bin Baharom (wakil Diri Harta Pusaka Kaltum binti Saad) Defendant Yahaya bin Baharom (wakil Diri Harta Pusaka Osman bin Bahar) Defendant Yahaya bin Baharom Wakil Di Sisi Undang-undang Harta Pusaka Puan binti Saman Defendant Zakaria bin Baharom Defendant
Statutes Cited
Evidence Act 1950 (Cap 56)
Limitation Act 1953 (Cap 254)
National Land Code (Cap 828)
Rules of Court 2012
Specific Relief Act 1950 (Cap 137)
Cases Cited (19)
UK (1)
[1957] 1 WLR 31
MY (18)
[1971] 1 MLJ 224 [1971] 1 MLJ 32 [1977] 2 MLJ 7 [1977] 4 CLJ 393 [1992] 1 MLJ 282 [1994] 3 CLJ 20 [1995] 2 CLJ 238 [1996] 1 MLJ 374 [1997] 4 MLJ 329 [2007] 3 CLJ 361 [2013] 5 MLJ 360 [2014] 5 CLJ 669 [2015] 8 CLJ 1173 [2016] 8 CLJ 462 [2020] 12 MLJ 786 [2020] 7 CLJ 271 [2020] 9 MLJ 67 [2025] 2 MLJ 214
Judgment
Read the full judgment on the official Malaysia Courts portal.
Read on eJudgmentSource: eJudgment (ka-22ncvc-12-03-2023)