The apex court’s three-member panel were unanimous in their decision this morning that there was no merit in the appeal.

The panel comprised Chief Judge of Malaya Zabidin Diah and justices Nallini Pathmanathan and Rhodzariah Bujang.

The proposed project involves 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 appellants, which included Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan (YWP) and developer Memang Perkasa Sdn Bhd were appealing against a Court of Appeal decision handed down two years ago which quashed a 2017 development order for Taman Rimba Kiara after it ruled in favour of Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) residents in a judicial review appeal.

Delivering the judgment of the court, Nallini said the mayor had erred in his decision to grant the development order.

She said the mayor had improperly changed the land use from a public park to a mixed development without explanation.

Under the KL Structure Plan, Taman Rimba Kiara was meant to be a public park.

Nallini said the KL Structure Plan was a legally binding document, and the mayor was obliged to abide by it.

“To give development plans their own force of law is to ensure that planning in the federal territory is achieved pursuant to cohesive planning principles.

“Continuity, control, and regulation of town planning in the federal territory is achieved when a development plan is gazetted and given the force of law.

“It, therefore, follows that having the force of law, ‘slavish compliance’ is required in relation to statutory development plans, as set out in the Federal Territories Act and the KL Structure Plan,” she added.

Mayor conflicted, wore ‘three hats’, court finds

The apex court also held that the mayor, who wore “three hats” over the change of land status, was mired in a conflict of interest situation.

Nallini said he had participated in DBKL’s decision to approve the subject land’s alienation. He was also a member of YWP’s board of trustees and had issued the development order via DBKL.

YWP, a charity foundation under the federal territories department, had entered into a joint venture with Memang Perkasa to develop Taman Rimba Kiara.

“The appellants argued that the mayor did not sign the impugned development order and did not sit in on the meetings which decided on granting planning permission for the subject land,” the judge noted.

However, referring to Section 5 of the Federal Capital Act 1960, which describes the mayor as “a corporation sole under the name of ‘Dato Bandar Kuala Lumpur’”, Nallini said: “It is the institution of the mayor that approves planning permission applications, not the person.

“The fact that the person then holding the position did not sign the impugned development order and did not sit in on the planning permission meetings does not cure the institutional conflict of interest in this case,” she added.

Besides that, the court ruled that TTDI residents have the legal standing to sue, as they had a genuine interest in the subject land.

Nallini said public authorities like DBKL owe the public a “duty of candour” as they act in the public’s interest. This includes providing full disclosure when a case is brought to court, she added.

“Full disclosure is of primary importance in the exercise of the court’s supervisory jurisdiction in judicial review proceedings.

“It is incumbent upon the court to protect the public interest when land allocated for public space is removed from public use and utilised for private ownership, that too without the knowledge of the public,” said Nallini.

The court ordered DBKL to pay RM100,000 in legal costs to the residents, while YWP and Memang Perkasa have to pay RM80,000 and RM70,000, respectively.

Lawyers Gurdial Singh Nijar and Abraham Au appeared for the residents.

B Thangaraj appeared for the mayor. YWP was represented by Cecil Abraham while Khoo Guan Huat represented Memang Perkasa.

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