Order for Kayveas & wife to refund RM470,000 to contractor upheld

PUTRAJAYA, May 28 — People’s Progressive Party (PPP) president Datuk Seri M. Kayveas and his wife, Datin Seri Blanche O’Leary, will have to return RM470,000 to a contractor company after the Court of Appeal today dismissed their application for an extension of time to file an appeal against a Kuala Lumpur High Court decision two years ago.

In a unanimous decision, the three-man bench headed by Datuk Seri Mohamed Apandi Ali also ordered cost of RM3,000 to be paid to the respondent. The two other judges were Datuk Balia Yusof Wahi and Datuk Aziah Ali.

At today’s proceedings, counsel Murali Menon, who acted for Kayveas (picture) and Blanche, submitted that the court should allow his clients appeal out of time mainly due to the inaction or oversight by the previous solicitor in filing the appeal on time.

With the court’s decision, Kayveas, who is a former deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, and his wife are obligated to settle the sum to the company, Peninsular Concord Sdn Bhd, as ordered by High Court Judge Harminder Singh on July 28, 2010.

Harminder Singh, in his decision, also dismissed a counterclaim filed by both defendants against the company. Both Kayveas and Blanche acted as “stakeholders” for the company’s bid in securing some road works of a project.

Murali also informed the panel that the notes of proceedings and grounds of judgement of the High Court were not made available by the court.

“My clients should not suffer just due to the mistake of the solicitor,” he contended.

Counsel LP Leong, who acted for the contractor, contended that the application should be dismissed on the grounds that the applicants had failed to come up with a reasonable explanation for the delay.

She said the grounds of judgement had been reported in both law journals of MLJ and CLJ in late 2010 and, furthermore, the last date to file the appeal was August 14, 2010. — Bernama