KUANTAN: The Pahang Mentri Besar has been ordered to pay a logging firm RM63mil for breach of contract, after the state government failed in its bid at the High Court here to strike out a writ of mandamus pertaining to a judgement sum ruled by the Federal Court on Sept 17 last year.
The High Court also ordered the payment be made, with costs, to Seruan Gemilang Sdn Bhd within 14 days beginning Monday.
Seruan Gemilang, which filed the writ on Oct 15 last year, had named the Mentri Besar as respondent and stated that the Pahang government had failed or refused to pay the sum despite the Federal Court order.
On March 20, it was reported that the Pahang government refuted the writ because the state government and forestry department were named as parties in the original suit while the Mentri Besar was never a party in the cause.
Justice Abdul Halim Aman, in his written judgement, said a mandamus was a command that binded a person issued with the order to fulfill the obligation.
He added that at this stage, it was not a matter of litigation but a force of the order which made it mandatory for the state government to abide.
On Dec 9, 2002, Seruan Gemilang filed a suit against the Pahang government and the state forestry director seeking RM31mil in damages for breaching a logging concession contract relating to the extraction of timber logs from a 4,000ha land belonging to Umno in Bebar, Pekan.
The Kuantan High Court decision on May 25 last year ordered them to pay RM37,127,471.60, with interest from April 5, 2000, to the company for breach of contract.
The Pahang government and state forestry director applied for leave to appeal against the decision, which was rejected by the Court of Appeal.
The Federal Court on Sept 17 last year affirmed the Court of Appeal decision.
Meanwhile, state legal adviser Datuk Mat Zara’ai Alias said the Pahang government would file an application for a stay of execution on Tuesday, at the Kuantan High Court.
He said the state government would also file an appeal to the appellate court against the decision made by the High Court on Monday.
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