Judge Azizul Azmi Adnan said historical records showed that the plaintiff, Raja Ilman Daniel Raja Azlan, and the persons on whose behalf he also filed the suit, have no legitimate claim over the land.

He said his decision was made based on the existence of an 1880 convention in which Raja Daud had renounced all his claims over the land.

The judge also awarded RM40,000 in costs to the Port Dickson district land administrator, as well as the district land and mines registrar of land titles, who were named as respondents in the suit.

Lawyer Shopna Rani Malakar, who represented Raja Ilman, said an appeal has been filed.

In the suit filed in 2019, Raja Ilman sought a declaration that he and the others were the registered “proprietor” of Sungai Raya, stretching along the west coast between Tanjung Tuan and Sungai Udang in Melaka.

Azizul, in his judgment delivered last week, said Raja Daud had been granted the right to rule Sungai Raya by a royal decree issued by the then Selangor ruler, Sultan Abdul Samad, on July 4, 1872.

He said, however, that in 1878, the sultan granted the land in Sungai Raya to Tunku Syed Abdul Rahman, the Dato’ Klana of Sungai Ujong, following a boundary agreement between them.

He said the effect of the agreement “appears to be to exchange Lukut and Sungai Raya for Kuala Langat”.

Kuala Langat and its surrounding areas became part of Selangor, while Lukut and Sungai Raya became part of the present-day Negeri Sembilan.

Azizul said that following the signing of the convention in 1880, Raja Daud received monetary compensation from the government of Sungai Ujong to renounce all and any claim that he may have had over Sungai Raya.

He said the convention also suggested that Raja Daud was no longer the ruler of Sungai Raya or that, at the very least, his status as ruler of Sungai Raya had become a matter of dispute.

He said Raja Daud came under the sovereignty of the sultan of Selangor and, as such, there had not been an absolute conveyance of the rights, title and interest in Sungai Raya to him through the 1872 royal decree.

The judge said provisions in the convention established “unequivocally and beyond even a shadow of a doubt” that Raja Daud had, by 1880, disclaimed all rights, interest and title in Sungai Raya.

In return, he had received $10,000 in bonds bearing a 6% coupon issued by the government of Sungai Ujong.