JUDGMENT
A. Background Facts
[1] The present appeal before us is an appeal against the High Court's dismissal of the appellant's Judicial Review Application against the Tribunal Tuntutan Pembeli Rumah ("the 2nd Respondent / TTPR") to impose Late Payment Interest ("LPI") against one Teoh Kok Seng ("the appellant / Purchaser") for the delay in the disbursement of the Financier's Loan for the first progress billing issued by Heesland Sdn Bhd ("the 1st Respondent / Developer").
[2] It is the appellant's case that he had been unlawfully imposed the LPI for delays that he had no hand in at all. On the contrary, the 1st Respondent merely adopted a deflective stance (not against the appellant) but to blame the delay against the solicitors' firm, Messrs Ong and Partners who the 1st Respondent insisted were representing the Financier and not them, the Developer.
[3] For a better understanding of the matter at hand, it is necessary to set out the facts of the case that has led to the present appeal.
[4] The appellant had purchased a double-storey house from the Developer (1st Respondent). The firm of solicitors who were appointed and retained by the Developer to undertake the sale and purchase and loan application for the purchase is one Messrs Ong and Partners ("the Developer's Lawyers").
[5] The appellant had expeditiously signed the Sale and Purchase Agreement on 14 April 2017 ("the SPA"). The SPA was only later dated and stamped on 2 May 2017. By this juncture, the processing of the loan documentation and disbursement of the loan sum is by and large out of the appellant's hands and control.
[6] The appellant obtained a loan facility from RHB Bank ("the Financier") to partly finance the purchase. Accordingly, the Financier issued a Letter of Notification on 18 April 2017. Only after this Letter of Notification that the Developer's Lawyers began to prepare the Loan Documents on 2 May 2017.