JUDGMENT

Lee Swee Seng FCJ:

[1] This is a land acquisition matter, which, through the default of the parties, has dragged on for close to 70 years. The problem started in 1956, long before most of us were born. The parties had agreed on the subject land of about 250 acres in the Mukim of Batu to be acquired by the Selangor State for a public purpose, but could not agree on the compensation sum. The Government then paid what the Collector of Land Revenue awarded, based on RM5,282.00 per acre, but the owner, Semantan Estate (1952) Sdn Bhd ("Semantan Estate"), wanted RM13,000.00 per acre.

[2] In the meantime, Semantan Estate accepted the sum of RM1,320,500.00 paid by the Government on 21 December 1956 and another RM79,241.01 on 3 February 1959 without prejudice to its claiming for what it said is the fair compensation. The additional compensation was based on an additional area after resurvey, making the total of 263.272 acres, where the subject land is concerned.

[3] When there was an impasse on further compensation, the landowner did what everyone thought could be properly done, which was to refer the matter to the High Court by way of a land reference under the then Land Acquisition Enactment (Cap 140).

[4] The High Court had a different view and held that, as the land area was different from that which was stated in the gazette notification, and that parties cannot waive procedural irregularities in order to invoke the jurisdiction of the High Court pursuant to a land reference, the High Court declined jurisdiction. See Semantan Estate (1952) Ltd v. Collector Of Land Revenue [1960] 1 MLRH 471; [1960] 1 MLJ 300 ("Semantan Estate High Court GOJ 1960").

[5] What happened subsequently had been lost to some extent with the passage of time. What we can glean from the records is that the Government had taken possession of the land on 3 December 1956, with the title being issued subsequently in the name of the Federal Lands Commissioner.