Lawyer Joy Appakuttan, who represents the applicants – The Mother Superior of the Daughters of Charity of the Canossian Institute (Malaya) (or the Canossian Sisters), and The Agent of the Commission of the Estates of the Portuguese Missions in China and Singapore (or the Portuguese Mission) – said the High Court informed parties in writing last week that the decision will be delivered on Feb 3 next year.
He told FMT that Justice Radzi Abdul Hamid was originally scheduled to deliver his decision today, having heard submissions by the parties over two days on Aug 7 and Sept 4.
In court documents sighted by FMT, the applicants said the land, known as Lot 6, had served as the dwelling place for the Canossian Sisters and housed orphans and boarders since 1905.
They said a primary school was built on Lot 6 in 1929, followed by a secondary school in 1950.
According to the applicants, the title to Lot 6 was at all times held by the Portuguese Mission.
“The Canossian Sisters were the beneficial owners who managed, operated, and administered the Sacred Heart Convent,” a statement filed in support of the judicial review application said, adding that the school on the premises became known as the Portuguese Convent.
The applicants claimed that the title deed to Lot 6, issued during the Dutch occupation of the state, was in the custody of Catholic priest Fr Alvaro Martins Corado during World War II.
They said the deed was lost after Corado, then the vicar for both St Peter’s Church and the Portuguese Convent, was arrested and imprisoned by the Japanese in 1942. He passed away in captivity two years later.
The applicants said that over the past 10 years, they had engaged in correspondence, communications, and meetings with the Melaka state authorities in a bid to secure the issuance of the title to replace the lost deed.
However, in a letter dated March 8, 2022, the state authorities claimed to have no jurisdiction to confer the title on the applicants.
The applicants want the High Court to issue a declaration confirming them as the legal and beneficial owners of Lot 6.
They also want the court to order the respondents – the state’s director of land titles, its director of lands and mines, and the registrar of titles – to take all necessary steps to issue the title to the land in their name.
The applicants filed an application for leave to bring the present proceedings in May 2022.
On Jan 6 last year, Radzi granted them leave to have the matter heard inter partes.