Orchard Circle Sdn Bhd v Pentadbir Tanah Daerah Hulu Langat

Case Significance

Illustrates the consequence for a landowner when an appellate court rejects a 'surrender' characterisation of acquired land, so that compensation must be assessed at market value under the Land Acquisition Act 1960 rather than on nominal terms.

This High Court decision at Shah Alam is the landowner's reference in a consolidated pair of land references over lots in the Mukim of Kajang, District of Hulu Langat, acquired for a highway project, and it fixes the compensation payable following an appellate ruling on the surrender question. The applicant here was the registered proprietor of the impugned lands, while a related reference was brought by the highway concessionaire over the same lots. The Land Administrator had treated 17,284.67 square metres as 'surrender' land and awarded only a nominal RM10.00 for that area, together with RM514,948.00 for a smaller excluded area at RM280.00 per square metre. The pivotal question was whether the compensation should be assessed on the basis that the land had been surrendered or that it had not. That question had been resolved by the Federal Court, which held that the land in question had not been surrendered, remitting the matter to the High Court to determine compensation in accordance with the Land Acquisition Act 1960. Applying the First Schedule to the Act and the governing valuation principles, and sitting with two assessors, the court determined the market value of the acquired lands at RM280.00 per square metre, the same rate the Land Administrator had already applied to the excluded portion. It ordered an increase in the award for land value of RM4,839,697.60, together with late payment charges at 5 per cent per annum on that sum from the issuance of Form K on 20 February 2003 until full and final settlement, while maintaining the Land Administrator's other awards and disallowing all other claims. The deposit was ordered returned to the landowner and the assessors' costs were fixed and directed to be paid within seven days. The judgment is a useful illustration of the consequences for a landowner when an appellate court rejects a 'surrender' characterisation, requiring compensation to be assessed at market value under the Land Acquisition Act 1960 rather than on nominal terms.