Apex court dismisses Langkawi council’s bid to challenge landmark ruling

 The Federal Court rules that the municipal council failed to meet the threshold to appeal a decision holding it liable for failing to maintain trees.

The Federal Court ordered the Langkawi Municipal Council to pay holidaymaker Yong Shui Tian RM50,000 in costs.

PUTRAJAYA:

A landmark ruling holding the Langkawi Municipal Council liable for negligence over its failure to maintain coconut trees at Pantai Cenang will stand after the Federal Court today dismissed the council’s application for leave to appeal.

A coconut tree fell on holidaymaker Yong Shui Tian in January 2019, leaving him paralysed from the waist down.

A unanimous three-member Federal Court bench chaired by Justice Abu Bakar Jais held that the council’s five proposed questions of law did not meet the threshold under Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 for an appeal to be heard by the apex court.

Leave to appeal to the Federal Court is granted only where a case raises novel constitutional or legal issues of sufficient public importance.

Justices Azimah Omar and Azmi Ariffin sat on the bench with Abu Bakar. The court also ordered the council to pay Yong RM50,000 in costs.

In December last year, the Court of Appeal overturned the High Court’s dismissal of Yong’s negligence suit.

Yong was on holiday with his family on Jan 9, 2019, when a coconut tree fell on him at Pantai Cenang, causing catastrophic injuries. Two other people were also struck and one of them later died.

The appellate court held that Yong had established his claim on a balance of probabilities.

Delivering the judgment, Justice Faizah Jamaludin said the High Court had erred in dismissing the claim. She noted that two council witnesses admitted the local authority had not maintained the coconut trees at Pantai Cenang, despite the area falling within its jurisdiction.

She also rejected the High Court’s finding that strong winds caused the tree to fall, pointing out that the meteorological department’s records showed there had been no rainfall and no strong wind on the night of the incident.

Faizah said the Local Government Act 1976 imposed statutory responsibilities on local authorities to plant, trim and remove trees where appropriate. She added that the law also empowers councils to remove trees from private land that fall onto public roads and recover the costs from the owner or occupier.

The Court of Appeal concluded that the council had breached its statutory duties and owed Yong a duty of care. It remitted the case to the High Court for an assessment of damages.

Lawyers Kanesh Sundrum and Elavarasi Manokaran appeared for the council, while M Manoharan, Lily Chua, Tseng Seng Guan, Farah Farhana and M Ganendra represented Yong. - FMT