Halim Saad’s appeal to reinstate suit against Dr M set for next August

 

Halim Saad’s suit against Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Nor Mohamed Yakcop and the government is over the acquisition of shares in Renong Bhd and United Engineers (M) Bhd in 2001.

PUTRAJAYA: 

The Court of Appeal has set Aug 18 next year to hear businessman Halim Saad’s appeal against a High Court’s decision which struck out a lawsuit he filed against former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and two others.

The lawsuit pertains to alleged losses he incurred following the government’s acquisition of shares in Renong Bhd and United Engineers (M) Bhd (UEM) in 2001.

Lawyer A Surendra Ananth, representing Halim, confirmed the date when contacted by Bernama.

On May 9, the High Court allowed applications by Mahathir, former finance minister II Nor Mohamed Yakcop, and the government to strike out the lawsuit filed by the tycoon.

In his statement of claim, Halim, the former executive chairman and director of Renong, claimed he had intended to make a general offer to privatise UEM as a subsidiary of Renong, which would have allowed him full ownership and control of UEM.

However, he claimed that he was instructed by Mahathir and Nor Mohamed not to proceed with the general offer as the government wanted to take over all the shares in UEM through a designated entity, namely Khazanah Nasional Berhad (Khazanah) or a party to be nominated by Khazanah.

Halim further alleged that he was also instructed to relinquish his positions as a shareholder and director of UEM and Renong, as well as their subsidiaries, requiring him to hand over control of Renong and UEM to the government and sell his Renong shares at a loss.

In his memorandum of appeal, the 71-year-old argued that the judicial commissioner erred in law and fact in dismissing his claim due to his previous claim in the High Court.

He also contended that the judicial commissioner erred in law and fact in ruling that a period of limitation applies to his case.

In her grounds of judgment, judicial commissioner Suzana Muhamad Said said the cause of action raised in the current suit has been litigated and decided in a 2013 suit.

She said Halim’s suit was also time-barred.

In the statement of defence, the three defendants denied having forcibly taken over the shareholding of the two companies as the takeover was approved by Halim, who received RM165 million in compensation. - FMT