KUALA LUMPUR: A century-old Buddhist monastery in Gunung Kanthan, Perak will have to make way soon after the Court of Appeal granted a cement manufacturer the right to evict the institution.
Associated Pan Malaysia Cement (APMC) won its appeal after the company sought a High Court order in Ipoh in January last year for the eviction of all squatters from the land, located at Lot No. 46497 in Hulu Kinta, Perak, reported FMT.
The Court of Appeal's three member bench, comprising Justices Azizah Nawawi, See Mee Chun and Zaini Mazlan, ruled that the monastery had failed to raise any triable issue to prevent the grant of order, and accepted the company's argument that as registered owners they were entitled to succeed in a summary application for possession after an appeal was heard online earlier this week.
The bench also rejected an application by the monastery for a stay of execution pending an appeal to the Federal Court.
According to the report, Gunung Kanthan is one of the last 12 remaining limestone hills in the Kinta Valley National Geopark and home to several endangered species of flora and fauna such as the bent-toed geckos, snow-white orchids and snails.
The report said some 80 per cent of the hill has already been cleared for quarries.
In its application, the cement manufacturer said it had leased a 146.4-hectare plot of land from the state for quarrying.
This, however, was contested by the monastery's management, which argued that the company could only occupy a small portion of the land as the monastery's monks had occupied the area for more than 100 years.
The monastery also asked for the application to be dismissed, claiming that the company had suppressed material evidence in its application by not disclosing to the court the fact that the land was occupied by the monastery.
The monastery had battled against eviction since January last year, and had originally fended off APMC's application in October last year.
Judicial commissioner Bhupindar Singh had, in his ruling, said the monastery had demonstrated that they were not squatters and had a strong arguable defence to the eviction when the monastery's monks argued that they have resided and occupied the area for more than 100 years.
Bhupindar also said there were triable issues as to whether they had occupied the land in Gunung Kanthan with the acquiescence of the company and state authorities.
The Court of Appeal however overturned his judgment.