JUDGMENT

Idrus Harun FCJ:

Introduction

[1] This is a judgment of this court on an appeal by the Superintendent of Land and Survey Department Kuching-Divisional Office and the State Government of Sarawak, the defendants to the action, against the order of the Court of Appeal made on 27 October 2017. Before going more closely into this appeal, it is necessary to state at the outset that this judgment sets forth the majority opinion of the judicial panel of this court which is agreed to by my learned sisters Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat CJ, Rohana Yusuf PCA and Nallini Pathmanathan FCJ, having read this judgment and the conclusion reached in draft.

[2] The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal by Ratnawati Hasbi Mohamad Suleiman, the plaintiff to the action, setting aside in the result, the High Court Order dated 29 February 2016. Shortly stated, the Court of Appeal in the aforesaid order granted a declaration that the 1st appellant's failure to comply with mandatory procedural provisions of ss 49, 51, 52, 53 and 54 of the Sarawak Land Code (Cap 81) in the resumption process of the subject land taken by the 1st appellant up to the registration of Declaration of Resumption vide Inst