It maintained that the conversion was not a political initiative and that no minister or elected representative was involved in the land office approving the conversion application.

The land office said, on Dec 19, that the Kuala Lumpur High Court declared that the imposition of lease conditions on the properties during their original development in 1978 was ultra vires and therefore invalid.

It said the court’s decision was based on a past Federal Court ruling that state authorities could not overstep their authority by ordering landowners to relinquish their freehold rights to be converted into leasehold without a strong legal basis.

“The process of converting the property status was started by the landowners, who filed originating summonses. Up until May 12, 226 landowners in Taman Segar had filed originating summonses for the same purpose.

“The process of converting the land status was based on complete legal and technical procedures. Its approval is subject to the court’s decision and technical implementation by the land office, based on the National Land Code’s provisions.

“No minister or elected representative was involved in determining the approval of this application,” it said in a statement.

This comes after political activist Badrul Hisham Shaharin claimed federal territories minister Hannah Yeoh had improperly converted the land status, prompting the DAP leader to file a police report.