TIONG SING CHIONG v 1. ) Kerajaan Malaysia 2. ) Ketua Pengarah Insolvensi Malaysia

Case Significance

Illustrates that a bankrupt's landed interest vests in the Director General of Insolvency only on registration under section 349 of the National Land Code, and that the statutory machinery, including section 350, governs recovery or re-transfer of such an interest.

This High Court decision in Kuala Lumpur concerns an originating summons by which the applicant sought declaratory and injunctive relief against the Director General of Insolvency in respect of a fractional share in land, and the operation of the National Land Code where property is said to vest in the Director General on bankruptcy. The applicant sought, among other things, a declaration that the Director General had no present right to his one-eighteenth share in a parcel of land held under a Sibu lease, an injunction restraining the Director General or its agents from entering, selling, charging or transferring the property to a third party, and orders requiring the Director General to execute the documents necessary to re-transfer the share to him. The Court's analysis centred on the interaction between the insolvency vesting provisions and the National Land Code. It observed that the land or interest would only vest in the Director General if it were registered in his name under section 349 of the National Land Code, and that until the registration of a transfer or of a vesting order made by the court, any land, share or interest already registered in the Director General's name continues vested in him notwithstanding a discharge from bankruptcy or an annulment. The Court also indicated that the applicant should, in making such an application, have regard to section 350 of the National Land Code, which addresses the position on the discharge of a bankrupt. Having weighed these provisions against the facts, the Court allowed the application with costs. The decision illustrates that the vesting of a bankrupt's landed interest in the Director General of Insolvency depends on registration under the National Land Code, and that the statutory machinery must be observed when a party seeks to recover or re-transfer such an interest.