KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 10): The High Court today allowed the government and Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) limited access to the Klang Valley Double Tracking Phase 2 (KVDT2) project, after they were barred from accessing it last month.
This comes after the court granted Dhaya Maju-LTAT Sdn Bhd — the contractor of the project — an ad interim injunction against the government, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong, KTMB and consultant Opus Consultants (M) Sdn Bhd from instructing the company to stop work on the KVDT2 rail project on Nov 2.
The varied order was given by Justice Datuk Lim Chong Fong in chambers today.
"The ad interim injunction will continue until Jan 7, 2021 with minor variations allowing the government and KTMB access to the active tracks to carry out maintenance and repair work," a lawyer from the law firm Skrine who appeared for Dhaya Maju-LTAT told The Edge.
An ad interim injunction serves to temporarily protect the plaintiff filing the suit by maintaining status quo. Initially, the injunction granted to the company was supposed to last until either Dec 12, or a further date decided by the court.
Dhaya Maju-LTAT, which is embroiled in the dispute with the government and Wee following the termination of its contract for the KVDT2 project last Sept 23, named the minister, the government, Opus Consultants and KTMB in a suit filed Oct 27.
The lawyer from Skrine, who declined to be named, said the case has been fixed for case management on Jan 7 before Justice Lim.
Senior federal counsel Asliza Ali appeared for the government and Wee, while Hee Hui Ting represented Opus Consultants. Sean Yeow and Lim Bee Sie appeared for KTMB, while Ashok Ranai, R Loshini, S Tatvaruban and R Laarnia from Skrine appeared for Dhaya Maju-LTAT.
News portal Malaysiakini reported that Dhaya Maju-LTAT filed the suit against all four defendants, and is seeking, among others, a declaration that the purported termination via the Sept 23 letter amounted to a breach of contract and was unlawful.
The company is seeking a declaration that the purported termination of the contract via the letter, without providing 30 days' notice, was invalid, unlawful, and wrong in law. It is also seeking a declaration that the contract is binding and continues to be binding on the government.
Earlier suit filed last Sept 7 to seek injunctions against contract termination
Besides this, Dhaya Maju-LTAT also filed an earlier suit on Sept 7 for injunctions to restrain the government and Wee from terminating the company's contract to undertake the KVDT2 project.
Dhaya Maju-LTAT is seeking, among others, injunctions to restrain the government and Wee from terminating the contract and to restrain Wee or his agents from abusing his public power or authority to wrongfully induce the government to interfere in the KVDT2 project.
However, the company failed to obtain the injunction to stop them from cancelling the contract despite it having completed 24% of the project and the government having already made progressive payments in excess of RM93 million.
It was also reported on Nov 20 that Dhaya Maju-LTAT also wanted the court to enter judgement against the government and Wee for terminating the contract and owing the firm in excess of RM137 million.
"The Dec 23 date is case management to fix a hearing of an application to enter judgement on admission of an undisputed sum due to the client," the lawyer from Skrine told theedgemarkets.com.
Judicial review also filed to stop retender process
In addition, Dhaya Maju-LTAT also filed a judicial review application in September to challenge the government's discontinuance of the company from resuming the project and also stopping the tender process.
It named the government and the transport minister as defendants in the judicial review application, for which it is seeking permission to have the merits of the case be heard in full.
The company sought declarations that the defendants' decision to cancel the KVDT2 project, which was awarded on Aug 19 last year, and to reopen the tender for the project, are invalid, null and void. It is also seeking a certiorari order to quash the defendants' decision to cancel the project and an order of mandamus to compel the defendants to execute all documents and agreements.
Dhaya Maju-LTAT is also applying for a stay of the government's decision to terminate the contract and assess the damages of its action.
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