Council can impose conditions on residents’ associations, rules court

 

Judge rules that the Petaling Jaya City Council can prohibit any residents’ association under its authority from imposing unreasonable conditions on homeowners.

SHAH ALAM: A High Court here has ruled that a residents’ association in Petaling Jaya cannot order those living in the gated community but who refuse to pay the monthly service fees to operate the automated boom gates themselves.

Judge Shahnaz Sulaiman said this is because the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ), which ordered the association to rescind the directive to its residents, had the authority to prohibit any association under its authority from imposing unreasonable conditions on homeowners.

“The residents’ association’s approval to operate as a guarded community, in the view of this court, is under the purview of the respondent (MBPJ),” she said in dismissing a judicial review application.

Shahnaz said the council’s decision not to allow the association to impose this rule is not illegal, irrational or unreasonable.

She said there were clauses in the Gated Community Guidelines for the council to allow for such a prohibition requiring non-paying residents and non-members from operating the boom gates themselves.

The applicant, Chow Hau Mun, who is president of the Parkville residents’ association, filed the action against MBPJ which declined to allow its request that non-members have to operate the boom gates themselves.

Chow, represented by A Surendra Ananth, relied on a 2015 Federal Court ruling to impose the condition.

However, MBPJ, which was represented by Yatiswara Ramachandran, took the position that the apex court verdict did not support Chow’s contention.

Shahnaz said the Federal Court ruling was whether an inconvenience could amount to actionable nuisance, adding that this was not the issue before the court in this case.

“The issue was pertaining to the condition imposed by the respondent (MBPJ) to the residents’ association,” she said in her judgment released early this week.

In December 2020, the council approved the association’s application to operate a guarded community until December this year.

The association wrote a letter to the council early last year that it would impose its rule on non-paying residents, leading to complaints by a few of the homeowners.

MBPJ then wrote to the association to cancel the condition but to no avail.

Chow then challenged the council’s decision on March 30 last year.

Surendra said a notice of appeal in the Court of Appeal has been filed. - FMT