PORATHA E & C SDN. BHD. v PETROFAC ENGINEERING SERVICES (MALAYSIA) SDN. BHD

wa-24c-124-07-2025 High Court (Mahkamah Tinggi) 21 December 2025 • WA-24C-124-07/2025 • 36 min read
16 cases cited (1 SG, 15 foreign)

Catchwords

CONSTRUCTION LAW — Adjudication under the Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act 2012 (CIPAA) — Setting aside of adjudication decision-- Whether the Adjudicator's failure to disclose his involvement in an ongoing Civil Suit constitutes a jurisdictional defect under Section 15(d) CIPAA-- Whether the non-disclosure or refusal to recuse himself gives rise to a reasonable suspicion of bias under Sections 15(b) and 15(c) of CIPAA--Whether the Adjudicator owes a duty to disclose-- Whether there was any denial of natural justice in the Adjudication Proceedings ---Whether the Plaintiff is estopped from challenging the decision due to its election to continue with the Adjudication despite of initial objections to the Adjudicator's alleged impartiality.

Practice Areas

CONSTRUCTION LAW

Judges (1)

Rajes Raghavji Delivered

Counsel (6)

Raja, Darryl & Loh Firm Sanjay Mohan Firm Joyce Ng Counsel Defendant Sanjay Mohanasundram Counsel Plaintiff Tan Jia Shen Counsel Plaintiff Zack Tan Counsel Defendant

Parties (2)

PETROFAC ENGINEERING SERVICES Sdn Bhd Respondent PORATHA E & C Sdn Bhd Applicant

Case Significance

PORATHA E & C SDN. BHD. v PETROFAC ENGINEERING SERVICES (MALAYSIA) SDN. BHD is a High Court (Mahkamah Tinggi) decision dated December 21, 2025 (citation: wa-24c-124-07-2025). <p>Poratha E&C sought to set aside a CIPAA adjudication decision on grounds that the adjudicator failed to disclose his involvement as lead counsel in a separate High Court matter where the opposing counsel was also Poratha's lead counsel in the adjudication, alleging perceived enmity and bias. The court found that the concurrent adversarial relationship in an unrelated matter did not give rise to a real possibility of bias, no denial of natural justice occurred, and the non-disclosure had no op The case was decided by Rajes Raghavji. Counsel appearing: Joyce Ng (counsel for defendant), Sanjay Mohanasundram (counsel for plaintiff), Tan Jia Shen (counsel for plaintiff), Zack Tan (counsel for defendant).

Summary

Poratha E&C sought to set aside a CIPAA adjudication decision on grounds that the adjudicator failed to disclose his involvement as lead counsel in a separate High Court matter where the opposing counsel was also Poratha's lead counsel in the adjudication, alleging perceived enmity and bias. The court found that the concurrent adversarial relationship in an unrelated matter did not give rise to a real possibility of bias, no denial of natural justice occurred, and the non-disclosure had no operative legal consequence. The setting aside application was dismissed with costs of RM10,000.

What was the outcome of PORATHA E & C SDN. BHD. v PETROFAC ENGINEERING SERVICES (MALAYSIA) SDN. BHD?

<p>Poratha E&C sought to set aside a CIPAA adjudication decision on grounds that the adjudicator failed to disclose his involvement as lead counsel in...

Cases Cited (16)

SG (1)
[2012] SGCA 63
UK (2)
[2002] 2 AC 357 [2021] 2 All ER 1175
MY (13)
[2015] MLJU 1873 [2017] MLJU 146 [2017] MLJU 242 [2018] 2 MLJ 22 [2018] 8 MLJ 190 [2019] 11 MLJ 574 [2020] 4 MLJ 773 [2021] MLJU 1222 [2024] 4 MLJ 405 [2024] MLJU 3607 [2025] 2 MLJ 701 [2025] MLJU 1533 [2025] MLJU 719