Putrajaya, Dhaya Maju LTAT close to settling over KVDT2 legal wrangle, top court told

KUALA LUMPUR, June 29 — The Federal Court here today was told that contractor Dhaya Maju LTAT Sdn Bhd and the government are close to settling the legal action over the termination of the contract of the Klang Valley Double Tracking Phrase 2 (KVDT2) project.

Senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly @ Arwi representing the government and Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong in a judicial review case told the Federal Court’s three-member panel today that negotiations between the parties have reached a point where they are only a few matters that need to be finalised and that he needed a month to know if the matter would proceed or be withdrawn.

Senior federal counsel Asliza Ali, who is handling the civil case filed against the government and Wee, said she also required a month to get further instructions from the ministry.

Lawyers Phang Huey Lynn and Khoo Guan Huat who represented Dhaya Maju LTAT in the judicial review case and the civil suit both agreed to the one-month adjournment of the hearing and confirmed that the parties were very close to settlement.

Federal Court judge Datuk Nallini Pathmanathan who chaired the panel with Justices Datuk Vernon Ong Lam Kiat and Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof then fixed July 29 for mention of the case.

In the judicial review application filed in Sept 2020, Dhaya Maju LTAT, among others, sought a declaration that the government's decision to cancel the KVDT2 project, which was awarded on Aug 19, 2019, and to subsequently reopen the tender for the project, are invalid, null and void.

For the civil suit matter, the government wants the Federal Court to grant them leave to pursue its appeal against the Court of Appeal's decision on July 26, last year, in granting Dhaya Maju LTAT an Erinford injunction restraining Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) from taking any further steps against revoking the company's (Dhaya Maju LTAT) licence to occupy the KVDT2 project site.

The appellate court had granted the Erinford injunction pending disposal of the company's appeal against a High Court's dismissal of the company's application last year to secure an interim injunction order to restrain the government and KTMB from instructing the company to stop work on the KVDT2 project. — Bernama