Justice Wong Kian Kheong said the plaintiffs had proven their cases against the developer on the balance of probabilities.
They were awarded costs totalling RM560,000 and interest at the rate of 5% calculated until full payment of the judgment sum.
Wong, now a Court of Appeal judge, had delivered his oral decision about a year ago, but the written grounds of his decision have just been released.
Sime Darby Property’s appeal against the ruling will be heard by the Court of Appeal on Oct 29.
In the 135-page judgment, Wong said the suits involved the plaintiffs’ right to claim damages for the developer’s breach of its obligations as regards material and good workmanship under statutory sale and purchase agreements (SPAs) entered with the buyers.
He said Sime Darby should have instituted third-party proceedings under Order 16 rule 1(1)(a) of the Rules of Court 2012 against Kitacon Sdn Bhd, the main contractor, to claim an indemnity or contribution towards damages payable to the plaintiffs.
Four of the plaintiffs had entered into SPAs to buy before, and another two after, the construction of the development known as Primo Bukit Jelutong here between 2010 and 2015.
According to the judgment, the six units were bought for between RM4.7 million and RM5.5 million each.
In 2017, the owners sued the developer for the cost of rectification of defects to their units.
Sime Darby Property, in its defence, denied there were defects and claimed that any shortcomings had been rectified.
However, Wong said some of the signatures in the defect rectification forms purportedly submitted by some of the buyers had been forged.
He also dismissed the developer’s contention that the defects were caused by renovations carried out by the buyers and were the result of wear and tear.
The judge also dismissed the developer’s defence that the two purchasers who bought their homes after the completion of the project did so on an “as is where is” basis.
Colin Andrew Pereira and Gary Wong appeared for the plaintiffs, while J Rohan Arasoo, Amy Hiew and Pan Yan Teng represented Sime Darby Property.