Chief Judge of Malaya Azahar Mohamed allowed the leave application of DBKL and the developer to appeal after hearing arguments from lawyers B Thangaraj for the mayor as well as Gopal Sri Ram for developer Memang Perkasa Sdn Bhd and Cecil Abraham for Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan (YWP).
The court also heard from lawyer Gurdial Singh Nijar who represented the Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) residents.
“Our decision is unanimous. Having regard to the facts of this case, we agree with applicants (DBKL, YWP, Memang Perkasa) that issues related to locus standi (legal position), the effect of the KL Structure Plan, the duty to give reason and conflict of interest are important questions of law,” he said.
Azahar added that a full hearing to ventilate the issues, and a decision by the highest court, related to the proposed building of serviced apartments, an apartment block, affordable housing and parking facilities, would be to the public’s advantage.
The other judges who sat with Azahar were Zaleha Yusof and Rhodzariah Bujang.
Thangaraj said the Court of Appeal had erred in its decision on the residents’ legal challenge.
“We say that we acted in accordance with Rule 5(3) of the Planning (Development) Rules in holding public hearings to hear residents’ objections against any proposed development. We are also not required to produce or show any technical reports to the residents for purposes of their objection. It is against the principles of law to do so,” he added.
In concurring, Sri Ram told the court that local authorities need not provide their decisions to residents if the law did not require them to do so.
“There seem to be conflicting decisions in previous case laws relating to local authorities’ decision-making processes and a final judgment by the Federal Court is needed to clarify it,” he said.
The questions of law related to legal standing touch on the right to commence judicial review proceedings under the Rules of Court and whether it overrides provisions under DBKL’s Planning (Development) Rules 1970.
Questions of law linked to the KL Structure Plan touch on whether it is a legally binding document with which local councils had to comply if they decide to grant a development order, as well as whether local councils need to inform residents of their decision after approving a development project.
The structure plan serves as a guideline to DBKL in developing the city centre.
Earlier this year, TTDI residents successfully quashed a development order issued by the mayor on July 13, 2017.
The proposed development was to build a 29-storey apartment block with 350 units of affordable housing, as well as eight blocks of serviced apartments and eight storeys of parking facilities.
The project was to be undertaken by property developer Memang Perkasa and YWP, a foundation chaired by the federal territories minister.
On Jan 27, the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of TTDI residents in their judicial review and set aside a High Court order made on Nov 28, 2018 dismissing the residents’ legal challenge.
Aggrieved with the ruling by the appeal’s court, DBKL, YWP and Memang Perkasa sought leave to appeal before the highest court.
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