Justice Radzi Abdul Hamid ruled that the applicants — The Mother Superior of the Daughters of Charity of the Canossian Institute (Malaya) (Canossian Sisters) and The Agent of the Commission of the Estates of the Portuguese Missions in China and Singapore (Portuguese Mission) — had failed to prove their case on the balance of probabilities.

“Applicants have not shown that either of them have any pre-existing legal and beneficial ownership interest in Lot 6 on the appointed day,” he said in his written judgment.

Radzi said that while the state had issued land titles to other Christian institutions such as the Christ Church Malacca, the Vicarage of Christ Church Malacca, Convent Infant Jesus School, Infant Jesus Convent and the Masonic Lodge, each case must be judged on their own facts and circumstances.

The applicants had named the state director of land titles, the director of lands and mines, and the registrar of titles as respondents.

Radzi said the applicants had failed to act within the provisions of the National Land Code (Penang and Melaka Titles) Act 1963, and it was now too late for them to argue that the respondents should open a folio and register their interest in the interim register or that the director be compelled to exercise his powers and obligations under the Act.

He said the National Land Code was now the primary law for the 1963 issuance and registration of land titles in Melaka and all other states.

“To put it another way, the train has left the station,” he said, adding that the court did not find the respondents’ actions — particularly those of the director of lands and mines — to be illegal, irrational, or procedurally improper, as claimed by the applicants.

“Although they may have acted haphazardly in not presenting a clear stance from the moment the applicants made their claim in 2014, they do not exhibit any bad faith towards the applicants,” he said.

He said that while Lot 6 was identified as the Portuguese Convent based on its use, this did not serve as a record or acknowledgement of ownership by either applicant.

Given this, he found no merit in the applicants’ bid for the court to declare them as the legal proprietors of Lot 6 or to order the issuance and registration of a new or replacement indefeasible title in their name.

Lawyer Joy Appukuttan, who appeared for the applicants, said an appeal had been filed.

According to 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 of 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.

Over the past 10 years, the applicants said, 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 wanted the High Court to issue a declaration confirming them as the legal and beneficial owners of Lot 6.

They also wanted 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.

They 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.