Gan & Lim

On the court record

Gan & Lim is a Malaysian firm whose reported matters before the High Court (Mahkamah Tinggi) and the Court of Appeal (Mahkamah Rayuan) are concentrated in company, land and property litigation, often where the two intersect. In the corporate field it has appeared in winding-up proceedings founded on an unsatisfied judgment debt, and in the applications to stay those proceedings under sections 465(1)(e), 466(1), 470 and 493 of the Companies Act 2016, where the court weighed a pending appeal and Federal Court leave application, a separate writ action and an alleged set-off, and what may amount to special circumstances justifying a stay. A related joint-venture dispute engaged section 329(1) of the National Land Code and a claim for compensation arising from a wrongful caveat, together with a developer's additional financing costs.

The firm's land and trust work is substantial. It has litigated a land-acquisition appeal turning on when the acquisition took effect, whether at the time the land was gazetted under section 4 or section 8 of the Land Acquisition Act 1960, and whether an appeal against the compensation awarded could be entertained where no question of law had been raised. It has appeared in a striking-out application in which fresh proceedings over the title to, and an injunction concerning, the same property were held to be barred by res judicata and by the principle of finality of litigation, the parties and issues being the same as in earlier proceedings. In a further matter tried to conclusion the court examined a claim that shares registered in one party's name were in truth held on trust for another. The reported profile is that of a company and land-litigation practice, adept at the winding-up remedy, the constraints of caveats and compensation, and the equitable and res judicata principles that recur where corporate and property interests collide.