1. ) UMAR BIN ALI BASHAH @ ALI BASHAH 2. ) TETUAN LOGHAN LAW OFFICE v 1. ) MUJUR ZAMAN SDN. BHD. 2. ) LIPUTAN CANGGIH SDN. BHD. 3. ) HADRONS CONSULTING SDN. BHD. 4. ) TETUAN ABRAHAM OOI & PARTNERS (CJ 23.12.21) PIHAK KETIGA TETUAN DAIM & GAMANY

Case Significance

Illustrates the effect of a stay of proceedings on later interlocutory applications, confirming that while an action is stayed pending related appeals the parties generally cannot pursue fresh interlocutory relief beyond an application to lift the stay.

This High Court ruling concerns a preliminary objection arising in long-running litigation connected with an abandoned housing project, and the effect of a stay of proceedings on a later interlocutory application. The action was brought by a representative plaintiff, suing on behalf of an action committee and the purchasers entitled to housing units under a settlement agreement, together with a law firm, against several companies and a firm of solicitors, with a related counterclaim. After the court had, by an earlier order, stayed all proceedings in the main claim and counterclaim pending the disposal of related civil suits in the Court of Appeal, the first and second defendants in the main action filed an application to recuse the judge from hearing the suit and to expunge a paragraph from the grounds of judgment. The plaintiffs raised a preliminary objection contending that, in light of the legal effect of the earlier stay order, that application could not be filed, heard or disposed of, and ought to be dismissed in limine. The court considered the nature and effect of a stay, drawing on the description of a stay as an order that freezes an action, so that, apart from an application to remove the stay, the only step ordinarily available is an application to dismiss the action. Having heard the parties, and given that all proceedings in the main claim and counterclaim were stayed pending the disposal of the related appeals, the court allowed the plaintiffs' preliminary objection and, consequently, struck off the defendants' application to recuse the judge and to expunge the paragraph, ordering each party to bear its own costs. The judgment is a useful illustration of the effect of a stay of proceedings on subsequent interlocutory applications, confirming that while a matter is stayed pending related appeals the parties generally cannot pursue fresh interlocutory relief beyond seeking to lift the stay.