KUALA LUMPUR: In support of Minister in the Prime Minister’s department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz’s proposal, Gerakan has called for amendments to the National Land Code 1965 (NLC) to enhance the Federal Court’s latest decision to protect landowners.

Calling the court decision a “great relief to everyone”, party deputy president Datuk Chang Ko Youn said it was necessary to make the provisions clearer regarding the rights of original landowners as intended by the legislators of the Land Code.

“It would not only bring relief to the property market as well as the general public, but also increase the confidence of investors that fraudulent transfers were not condoned by the law and the courts of Malaysia,” said Chang, who is also head of Gerakan’s human rights and law bureau, in a statement on Jan 25.

Chang also appealed to the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry and the Attorney General’s chamber to work closely with Nazri as well as concerned parties such as the Malaysian Bar and Rehda to bring about the necessary changes to the Land Code promptly.

The deputy president was referring to a landmark judgment made by the Federal Court on Jan 21, in deciding on an appeal in a case brought by Tan Yin Hong against three respondents, Tan Sian San, Cini Timber Industries Sdn Bhd, and United Malayan Banking Corporation Bhd (now RHB Bank Bhd).

The apex court’s five-panel judge unanimously ruled that any person acquiring a registered title or interest on a property via a forged instrument cannot be allowed an immediate indefeasible interest or title.

It had not only re-introduced a remedy for those tangled in ownership disputes, but also sealed a loophole that had once put property owners at risk of losing their titles to fraudsters.

In the case, Yin Hong had discovered that the Pahang state government had issued a land title to him in 1976 after United Malayan Banking Corporation demanded repayment of RM111,825.95 and RM197,224.01 for an overdraft facility and term-loan facility granted to Cini Timber Industries Sdn Bhd.

Yin Hong later found out that a Tan Sian San, who is unrelated to him, had purportedly forged his signature to create power of attorney to charge the land as security for a bank loan.

Yin Hong then sued Sian San, Cini Timber Industries and the bank but the Kuantan High Court dismissed his claims.

His appeal at the Court of Appeal also failed when a three-judge panel dismissed his appeal after ruling that the bank had obtained immediate indefeasibility of its interest, having followed the Federal Court’s earlier decision from the controversial dispute between Adorna Properties and a Thai national, Boonsom Boonyanit @ Sun Yok Eng.

A three-member Federal Court bench led by then Chief Justice Tun Eusoff Chin had on Dec 13, 2000, ruled that a subsequent acquirer of a property could obtain an immediate indefeasible title and interest from a forger, under Section 340 of the Land Code.