PETROLIAM NASIONAL BERHAD

On the court record

The national oil and gas corporation, litigating across constitutional federal-state questions, petroleum taxation, gas-supply injunctions and defensive civil-procedure disputes at every tier of court.

Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) is the national oil and gas corporation, and its appearances in the corpus reflect the breadth of a state-owned enterprise's legal exposure — constitutional and federal-state questions, revenue and petroleum taxation, injunctions to preserve commercial positions, and employment-related tort claims. It appears as petitioner, appellant and respondent across the Federal Court, Court of Appeal and High Court.

At the constitutional level, Petronas invoked the original jurisdiction of the Federal Court. In a leave application under Articles 4(3), 4(4) and 128(1) of the Federal Constitution and Rule 30 of the Rules of the Federal Court 1995, engaging sections 2 and 3 of the Petroleum Development Act 1974, leave was granted. A related Sarawak dispute concerned competing payment claims for natural gas supply amid conflicting federal and state legislation, where a mandatory injunction was granted to preserve the status quo between the gas suppliers pending resolution.

On the revenue side, Petronas appeared in an appeal concerning notices of additional assessment under the Petroleum (Income Tax) Act 1967 and the decision of the Special Commissioners of Income Tax. Other matters were defensive and procedural: an employment-related civil suit by a former employee dismissed for habitual lateness, in which wide-ranging tort allegations were dismissed as wholly unsubstantiated; a dispute over a defective affidavit sworn without a jurat under Order 41 rule 3 of the Rules of Court 2012 and security for costs against a foreign plaintiff; and a stay application arising where the High Court had declared a party a vexatious litigant and ordered publication in the Gazette, the question being whether "special circumstances" justified a stay. Across these matters the corporation appears at every tier of the court system, and the through-line is the way a national enterprise's commercial and regulatory position repeatedly intersects with public law — federal-state legislative conflict, the reach of the Petroleum Development Act 1974, and the special procedural rules that govern litigation touching a strategic industry.