The Society of Saint Maur has withdrawn its legal action which sought the renewal of the land lease for SMK Convent Bukit Nanas.
This was after the society received an official letter from the federal government which confirmed that the lease for the 122-year-old Kuala Lumpur school was extended.
On April 22, the government announced it agreed to extend the lease of SMK Convent Bukit Nanas. The land lease was set to expire on Sept 6.
However, on May 4, it was reported that the society was waiting for written evidence from the government before deciding whether to discontinue its legal challenge against the non-renewal of the lease.
When contacted this morning, the society’s counsel Ian Hannibal confirmed that they received the official letter, thus their discontinuance of the judicial review.
“Yes, we received the letter dated May 31. We have filed a notice of discontinuance to the (High) Court,” the lawyer said.
He added that they have updated the Kuala Lumpur High Court of this development and discontinuance during case management of the legal action today.
Earlier on April 7, the society filed the legal challenge against the non-renewal of the school's land lease.
SMK Convent Bukit Nanas reportedly wrote to the Lands and Mines office on Oct 4, 2017, to seek an extension of the land lease, but was told on Dec 18 last year that the lease would not be renewed.
The school was seeking a certiorari order to quash the decision by the Lands and Mines office to not extend its land lease and mandamus to compel the Federal Territories Lands and Mines director to revoke the land lease non-renewal letter.
Through the application, it claimed that the Lands and Mines office failed to consider the impact of its decision on the students and teachers.
The issue attracted calls for the government to renew the land lease, among others from former minister and SMK Convent Bukit Nanas alumni Rafidah Aziz.
On April 22, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) urged the government to maintain the status quo over the matter.
Suhakam said the government should renew the lease as SMK Convent Bukit Nanas is one of the country’s high-achieving schools and should be allowed to continue its educational work that has been done for over a century.
Two days earlier (April 20), an online petition was launched to lobby for the school’s preservation.
On April 25, the National Parents-Teacher Association Consultative Council urged for the historic school to be gazetted as a national heritage to preserve, conserve, and protect the site. - Mkini
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