Elegant Builders Sdn. Bhd. v 1. ) Ahmad Zaki Sdn. Bhd. 2. ) Ahmad Zaki Resources Berhad

Case Significance

Illustrates the principles for amending pleadings to add a party under Order 15 rule 6 and Order 20 rule 5 of the Rules of Court 2012, aimed at the complete determination of the real controversy where joinder is necessary or just and works no irremediable prejudice.

This High Court decision, in the Construction Division at Kuala Lumpur, concerns an application to amend a writ and statement of claim to add a further defendant. By the application before the court, the plaintiff sought leave under Order 15 rule 6(2) and (8) and Order 20 rule 5 of the Rules of Court 2012 to amend its pleadings so as to join a related company as the second defendant to the existing suit against the first defendant. Both the plaintiff and the corporate parties are named.

The application engaged two distinct but related powers of the court. Order 15 rule 6 governs the addition of parties, allowing the court to add a person whose presence is necessary to ensure that all matters in dispute may be effectually and completely determined, or whose joinder is otherwise just; and Order 20 rule 5 governs the amendment of pleadings, which the court may permit on such terms as are just for the purpose of determining the real questions in controversy between the parties. The overarching consideration in both is whether the amendment and joinder are necessary to resolve the true dispute, weighed against any prejudice to the party sought to be added that could not be compensated in costs.

The court's task was therefore to assess whether the proposed second defendant was a proper or necessary party to the construction dispute, and whether the amendment served the just and complete determination of the matters in issue. The judgment is a useful illustration of the principles governing an application to amend pleadings to add a party under Order 15 rule 6 and Order 20 rule 5 of the Rules of Court 2012: such applications are approached with a view to enabling the real controversy to be adjudicated once and completely, provided the joinder is necessary or just and works no irremediable prejudice on the party to be joined.