JJ's mother succeeds in appeal to set aside conditional stay

The mother of a former minister, the late Jamaluddin Mohd Jarjis, has succeeded today in her appeal to set aside a conditional stay obtained by her two grandchildren, which among others barred her from disclosing information on Rantai Wawasan Sdn Bhd accounts to third parties.

A Court of Appeal three-member panel led by judge Yaacob Md Sam allowed the 87-year-old Aminah Abdullah's (above) appeal to set aside the conditional stay that was granted by the High Court in September last year to Nur Anis Jamaluddin and Ikwan Hafiz Jamaluddin.

In the court's unanimous decision, he said the court was guided by the Federal Court decision in Kosma Palm Oil Mill Sdn Bhd & Ors v Koperasi Serbausaha Makmur Bhd which held that it was mandatory for an applicant to show that there were special circumstances before a stay can be given.

"We are of the view there are no special circumstances which warranted for a stay of the High Court order," said Yaacob, who presided with Supang Lian and Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.

He said there were merits in Aminah's appeal and therefore, allowed the appeal with a cost of RM10,000 to be paid by Nur Anis and Ikwan Hafiz.

Aminah filed a suit on Jan 3, 2019, claiming Nur Anis and Ikwan Hafiz, as joint administrators of Jamaluddin's estate, had failed to include three company shares as an inheritance in the list of assets in the letter of administration when Jamaluddin died in 2015 and they also failed to enter the shares as a liability since July 6, 2017.

In her statement of claim, Aminah stated that her grandchildren failed to enter the shares of three companies - Rantai Wawasan, Alpine Motion Sdn Bhd and Ivory Insight Sdn Bhd - as part of Jamaludin’’s estate with an intention of denying her the rights and interests as a beneficiary.

The case

On Aug 13 last year, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur allowed Aminah's application for a declaration that the three million shares of Rantai Wawasan be included in the list of her late son's estate.

However, the High Court dismissed her (Aminah's) application for a declaration that the six million shares in Alpine Motion and two shares in Ivory Insight were part of the estate of her late son.

On Sept 20, last year, Nur Anis and Ikwan Hafiz obtained a conditional stay from the High Court pending disposal of their appeal in the Court of Appeal against the High Court ruling that the Rantai Wawasan shares be included as part of the estate of the late minister.

The conditional stay that was granted by the High Court, among others, is to bar Aminah or her solicitors from showing, or disclosing and furnishing the affidavits of accounts or any part thereof to any third parties and to limit the affidavit of accounts to be served to Aminah or her solicitors Messrs Wan Merican Hamzah & Sheikh only.

Aminah has also filed an appeal against the High Court's refusal to grant her a declaration that the shares of the other two companies be included as part of her late son's estate.

The appeals are scheduled to be heard by the Court of Appeal on March 14.

Jamaluddin, a former science, technology and innovation minister, was killed in a helicopter crash on April 4, 2015.

Lawyers Wan Zafran Pawancheek and Pawancheek Marican represented Aminah in the court proceedings today which was conducted virtually via zoom, while lawyers S Suhendran and Frank Wong appeared for Nur Anis and Ikhwan Hafiz, respectively.

- Bernama